U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly of the District of Columbia granted a temporary restraining order early Thursday, 24 September 2026, in Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump requiring the White House defendants, excluding President Donald Trump, to immediately return, reinstate, and restore hard-pass press credentials held by employees of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, according to the court order published by The Washington Post and same-day reporting by NBC News and ABC News.
The order runs for 14 days — through about 8 October unless modified — while the outlets’ challenge proceeds. Kelly wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed at least on Fifth Amendment due-process grounds: Trump did not dispute that the outlets “did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before their hard passes were revoked,” the order and NBC’s account of it state. Plaintiffs’ counsel Ted Boutrous called it “a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law” and thanked the court for swift action, NBC reported.
Trump announced the ban on Truth Social around 18 September, citing the outlets’ “constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” The outlets’ suit argued the remarks showed retaliation meant to pressure their reporting and warn other journalists.
Later White House letters, sent after the ban took effect, accused the outlets of publishing “sensitive security information, and misinformation” that “undermines the President’s ability to safeguard the national security,” citing articles about munitions stockpiles linked to the Iran war, Russia sanctions, a request for $1 billion for East Wing renovations Trump had said would be donor-funded, and coverage of “vibes” at a Republican midterm convention, NBC reported. Kelly rejected the national-security framing for the TRO. He called the cited stories “routine,” said he was skeptical that safeguarding national security was the actual motive, and wrote that nothing in the pre-suit record suggested national-security motivation — “Certainly, that is not what President Trump said when he announced that he was ‘banning’ Plaintiffs from the White House — instead, he focused on the alleged lack of truthfulness and negativity of Plaintiffs’ reporting,” ABC and NBC quote from the order. At a Wednesday hearing, Kelly said the process laid out in earlier D.C. Circuit hard-pass cases “wasn’t followed here,” ABC reported.
Day-of compliance was uneven at first. Despite the overnight TRO, reporters from the banned outlets were turned away Thursday morning. Boutrous told the court the government had “already repeatedly” violated the order and sought an emergency hearing; Kelly ordered a written response by 12:30 p.m. and later denied the emergency-hearing request after the White House filed, NBC and ABC reported. In a declaration from White House press operations director Micah Stopperich, the administration said her team was told shortly after 7 a.m. to restore access “by turning on their hard badges”; the Secret Service indicated shortly after 9 a.m. that passes were “back on”; and the White House declaration stated access had been restored as of about 9:55 a.m., ABC reported. Around noon, the outlets said access to the grounds was beginning to be granted. CNN’s Betsy Klein and MS NOW’s Laura Barrón-López were back on the White House grounds Thursday afternoon and reported live; Politico said one of its reporters was granted access too, NBC and ABC reported.
Separately Thursday, two CNN reporters and one from MS NOW were turned away from state-dinner arrivals for Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both outlets had been admitted back onto the grounds earlier; the event was open press but required RSVP credentials that those three journalists were not issued, NBC reported — a credentialing episode distinct from the hard-pass restore timeline described in the Stopperich declaration.
What to watch: how the White House implements the 14-day restore; any further compliance disputes; and the next stage of the case after the TRO window.
Floor: D.D.C. Judge Timothy J. Kelly TRO early 24 Sep 2026 — Cable News Network, Inc. v. Trump; restore hard passes for CNN, MS NOW, Politico employees; defendants excl. Trump; 14 days (~through Oct 8) unless modified; likely success on Fifth Amendment due process; NS letters cited “routine” stories, Trump focused on negativity (order). Day-of: morning turnaways; WH declaration access restored ~9:55 a.m.; Klein (CNN), Barrón-López (MS NOW), Politico reporter back afternoon. Boutrous: strong ruling. Order PDF + NBC + ABC + WaPo 24 Sep.