A judge orders the White House to restore press access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which are then kept out of the state dinner
The week began with the ban in force: reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico had their White House badges confiscated and were turned away at the gate. On Tuesday the three outlets sued, calling the exclusion a violation of the First Amendment, while other networks suspended some White House coverage in protest. The standoff followed the president to New York, where he told CNN's reporters at the United Nations that they should not be there. A federal judge heard argument the same day and appeared sceptical of the administration's position, with legal scholars putting its chances low. By Friday the ruling had come: the judge blocked the ban and ordered access restored, and the three outlets were readmitted to the building. They were then refused entry to the state dinner for Xi Jinping — which is where the week's argument actually rests, since the order restores a credential but not the hundred discretionary decisions about who is in the room.
