CNN and MS NOW Barred from State Dinner Despite Federal Court Order
US news organisations CNN and MS NOW were blocked from covering a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday evening, defying an overnight federal court ruling that had ordered their press credentials restored after the Trump administration banned them the previous week.
Judge Timothy Kelly of the federal district court ruled that the White House ban on CNN, MS NOW, and the political outlet Politico had likely violated the organisations' constitutional rights. He issued a temporary order requiring that their access be reinstated without delay.
The ban had been imposed by the Trump administration, with the President accusing the three outlets of publishing disinformation. While journalists from the affected organisations were permitted to re-enter the White House building on Thursday morning following the court ruling, the administration reversed course by evening, again blocking their reporters from the state dinner honouring Xi.
The restrictions were applied in an uneven manner. CNN was told it could send only a photojournalist and an audio technician to the dinner, explicitly barring a reporter and producer from attending. MS NOW correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez was informed directly by White House staff that she could not enter the venue.
In a post on the social media platform X, the White House argued that news organisations do not automatically have free access to every area of the executive mansion, framing the exclusions as a matter of operational management rather than censorship or retaliation.
The episode provoked an immediate show of solidarity from rival media outlets. Fox News, NBC, CBS, and ABC all withdrew from White House pool coverage in protest at the treatment of their colleagues. None of those networks had resumed participation by Thursday evening.
Press freedom groups condemned the administration's actions as a significant escalation in its confrontation with independent media, noting the striking timing of the exclusions during a high-visibility diplomatic event attended by press from around the world.