Trump admin bars reporters despite court order and then takes u-turn after emergency request

WASHINGTON, DC: MS NOW, CNN and Politico reporters secured entry inside the White House on Thursday, September 24, after outlets filed an emergency hearing request following the Trump administration’s refusal to grant access despite the court’s order to restore it.

Trump administration denied entry to reporters from banned outlets even after the court’s early Thursday morning order to allow reporters inside the White House.

Reporters finally secure entry inside the White House

After a few days of drama, the White House has finally provided entry to journalists from CNN, Politico and MS NOW.

Footage from MS NOW and CNN showed reporters back inside the White House and reporting from there. This came hours after Judge Timothy Kelly ordered their access to be restored. Politico also reported that its reporter was allowed to enter the White House.

Notably, journalists from all three outlets were initially denied entry earlier Thursday morning, despite the court ruling, prompting their attorneys to ask the court for an "immediate" hearing.

They began getting back onto the complex around noon.

Before access was restored, Politico reported on Thursday that a Secret Service agent had confiscated its reporters’ credentials.

“A Secret Service agent said the reporter was not cleared to enter but might be able to with a temporary day pass, which the White House grants to those who do not hold what are known as 'hard passes', which grant permanent access to press facilities at the White House,” the outlet wrote.

White House gives its own timeline of the delay

In a sworn statement to the court, White House Press Operations Director Micah Stopperich said her office was told at 7.10 am to restore access for the reporters. Her office started the process 15 minutes later.

The Secret Service said at 9.07 am that the reporters’ press badges had been reactivated. The confiscated credentials were then sent to White House Operations staff at 9.45 am.

The reporters' badges were then left at the designated White House entry gate for members of the press just before 10 am and could be picked up “as soon as they were delivered.”

Judge orders White House to restore press access

Judge Kelly blocked Trump’s ban in a ruling early Thursday morning and ordered the White House to restore access to the three news organizations.

The court issued a 14-day temporary restraining order while it considers the broader case.

President Trump on September 18 announced that he was banning journalists from CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House over their style of reporting on him and his government.

The decision reportedly followed an executive aide, Natalie Harp, showing Trump clips of MS NOW’s critical reporting on the president.