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After Banishing Journalists for Writing 'Purposely Negative' Stories, Trump Invokes 'National Security'

The president hopes that post-hoc rationalization will override due process and freedom of the press.

Jacob Sullum | 9.23.2026 1:30 PM

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(Photo: Leigh Vogel/UPI/Newscom | Illustration: Adani Samat)

"Effective immediately," President Donald Trump announced out of the blue on Friday, he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House "as a result of their constant 'reporting' [of] FAKE NEWS!" Now the government's lawyers, in response to a lawsuit that the three news outlets filed on Monday, are scrambling to justify that act of pique on national security grounds.

On Tuesday night, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate filed a 19-page response to CNN et al.'s motion for a temporary restraining order, which U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly is considering at a hearing today. The plaintiffs argue that their sudden banishment violates due process and freedom of the press. Not so, Shumate says.

"The President concluded" that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico "have failed to maintain basic minimum 'standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including' by 'publishing sensitive or classified information,'" the brief avers. "The President's actions must be sustained because the President has 'compelling interest[s]' in enforcing minimum standards for bona fide journalists and safeguarding national security information."

In support of that claim, the brief cites three letters from the White House Press Office that purport to justify Trump's decision. All of them are dated September 22, four days after the president banished CNN et al. and the day after they filed their lawsuit.

Those post-hoc justifications clearly do not meet the due process requirements that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has said apply when the government seeks to exclude credentialed journalists from the White House. Contrary to D.C. Circuit precedent, Trump did not give CNN et al. advance notice, a written explanation, or an opportunity to contest his reasons for banning them.

Those letters also contradict what Trump said when he announced the bans. "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 declared on Truth Social last week. He subsequently........

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