CNN Sued Trump Over Its Ban and Now the Same Judge Who Saved Jim Acosta Has It

Donald Trump banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House over what he called nonstop fake news.

The three outlets ran straight to federal court, and the case went to a judge Trump appointed.

Before that judge ever ruled, Trump was already warning America about him by name.

Trump Pulled the Hard Passes on September 18

Trump announced the ban on Truth Social on September 18, "effective immediately."

"Media Outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they're covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America," he wrote.

He closed with a warning that should have every newsroom in Washington sweating: "Other Fake News Media Outlets to follow."

The next day, reporters from all three outlets showed up at the White House and got turned away, their hard passes gone.

Trump explained it in plain English from the Oval Office.

"It's really just cumulative stories of the last two years. You get sick of it."

Vice President JD Vance put hard numbers on it on September 21.

"We have to remember those three outlets account about 92% of the stories that they have on the president of the United States on the administration are negative," Vance told reporters.

Then he delivered the line that stuck: "Politico is as anti-Trump as Breitbart was anti-Obama or anti-Biden."

Vance also made the point the networks refuse to hear – nobody is stopping them from reporting a single word.

"What he's doing is saying we're not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda," Vance said.

Judge Kelly Handed CNN the Same Win in 2018

CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued together on September 21, claiming Trump trampled their First Amendment and due process rights.

The Justice Department answered with one line that sums up the whole fight: "Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right."

White House letters to the outlets, which DOJ filed with the court, accused them of "trafficking in verifiable falsehoods."

Trump saw trouble coming in a September 21 Truth Social post.

"The Judge's name is Tim Kelly, and he was, sadly, appointed by 'TRUMP.'"

He was right to worry.

After midnight on September 24, Kelly issued a 14-day restraining order forcing the White House to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" the passes.

Kelly said one of the conduct standards the White House cited was "so vague it hardly does the trick" and found the outlets got no notice and no chance to fight the ban.

By noon on September 24, the same reporters Trump threw out were back inside the building.

CNN has stood in front of this judge before.

On November 16, 2018, Kelly ordered the White House to give Jim Acosta his hard pass back after Acosta's shouting match with Trump at a press conference.

"I order the government reinstate the pass," Kelly said from the bench.

That order also ran 14 days.

Same judge, same network, same legal theory – eight years apart.

The Appeals Court Already Ruled the Oval Office Belongs to the President

Kelly did not rule that Trump violated the First Amendment.

He ruled on paperwork – notice and process – which leaves the real question wide open.

The Justice Department is expected to appeal, and Trump has said he will take this fight up the ladder.

On the First Amendment question, a higher court has weighed in.

In June 2025, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled 2-1 in Associated Press v. Budowich that the AP was unlikely to win, finding the Oval Office and Air Force One are "not any type of forum" – the White House decides who walks in.

The press also has a very short memory about who started this war.

Barack Obama's White House trashed Fox News as the research arm of the Republican Party.

Obama's Justice Department labeled Fox reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator to get at his records, then secretly seized Associated Press phone records.

Joe Biden's team rewrote the hard pass rules in 2023, and more than 440 reporters lost their passes.

Trump is not censoring anybody.

CNN can still broadcast, Politico can still publish, and MS NOW can still rant all night long.

What they lost is a free seat inside the most powerful building on earth, paid for by the same taxpayers they mock every evening.

A judge Trump put on the bench bought them 14 days.

The real fight starts the moment those 14 days run out.

Sources:

• Rebeka Zeljko, "Judge Orders Trump Admin To Reverse 'Fake News' White House Ban," Daily Caller, September 24, 2026.
• Donald J. Trump, "I am proud to announce that, effective immediately, I am banning Fake News CNN, MSNOW…," Truth Social, September 18, 2026.
• Donald J. Trump, "The Judge's name is Tim Kelly…," Truth Social, September 21, 2026.
• Mabinty Quarshie, "Vance defends White House media ban: 'Politico is as anti-Trump as Breitbart was anti-Obama or anti-Biden,'" Washington Examiner, September 21, 2026.
• Alexx Altman-Devilbiss, "CNN regains White House access after emergency hearing request over media ban," The National News Desk, September 24, 2026.
• Brian Flood, "Judge orders White House to return press pass to CNN's Jim Acosta," Fox News, November 16, 2018.
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, "Order Granting in Part Motion for Stay Pending Appeal, Associated Press v. Budowich, No. 25-5109," June 6, 2025.