CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued 
Donald Trump's administration on Monday over their White House ban, calling it "a blatant violation" of the First Amendment, and the major TV networks suspended pool coverage in solidarity. The reporters' entry badges were disabled on Saturday, a day after Trump announced he was barring the outlets over reporting he called "fake news."
What does the lawsuit seek? The complaint says the Constitution bars a president from depriving the press of First Amendment rights "based solely on his dislike of the content of their reporting." It names Trump, the communications director, the Secret Service director and chief of staff Susie Wiles, and seeks a temporary restraining order restoring the reporters' access, PBS NewsHour reported. A remote hearing is set for Wednesday. The case went to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump nominated during his first term. Trump said the outlets "have drawn a great Judge, for them," signalling he might be forced to let their journalists back into the building, The Hill reported.
How did the networks respond? ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News suspended pooled coverage after CNN was kept from its assigned turn on Monday, when it had been due to cover the president's trip to New York for the U.N. General Assembly. "No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting," the five pool networks, CNN among them, said in a joint statement. Pool chair Bryan Boughton, who runs the Fox News Washington bureau, said in an email that "there will be no replacement pool put in place," DW reported. Liz Landers, a PBS NewsHour correspondent, said it was the first time in modern press coverage that no TV camera traveled with the president.
How has the administration responded? Trump told an AFP reporter on Friday that the ban was over "really just cumulative stories over the last two years," Korea Times reported. On Monday he said on Truth Social that the White House "is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish," but on "the FAKE NEWS." Speaking to reporters accompanying him on a campaign trip to North Carolina, Vice President 
J.D. Vance said the outlets had lost their "special access" but were not banned, PBS NewsHour reported. "They're just not going to get an office in the White House anymore," Vance said. Vance also called the ban "totally appropriate," The Hill reported.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump, J.D. Vance. — JudgeMarket.
