Court Temporarily Blocks Media Ban, Trump-Xi White House Meeting, UNGA Diplomacy

A Martínez (0:02)

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to let journalists from CNN, Politico and MS Now back into the White House.

Leila Fadel (0:08)

The judge was not persuaded that national security was the real reason behind the bans. What happens next at Trump's media ban?

A Martínez (0:14)

I'm Ian Martinez, that is Leila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with President Trump at the White House today. Besides the pomp and pageantry, the two leaders have a lot to discuss, from Taiwan to Iran and even AI. What are they each looking to gain?

Leila Fadel (0:33)

And Iran's president called the US a bully at the United Nations General Assembly. Ukraine's president pushed for a ceasefire with Russia on energy and grain. Is there any real movement toward ending either war? Stay with us, we'll give you the news you need to start your day.

A federal judge is ordering the Trump administration to restore access to the three media organizations banned from the White House.

A Martínez (1:01)

In a ruling just after midnight, Judge Timothy Kelley granted a two-week temporary restraining order to CNN, Ms Now and Politico. President Trump had their reporters' White House press credentials revoked. He said they, quote, purposefully write negative news.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed a Friend of the Court brief in the case supporting the three outlets. NPR is one of the organizations that signed on to that brief.

Leila Fadel (1:27)

NPR's David Fokinflick joins us now to talk about all this. Good morning, David.

David Folkenflik (1:31)

Good morning, Leila.

Leila Fadel (1:32)

Okay, so let's start with that late night court ruling. What did it say?

David Folkenflik (1:36)

It was pretty declarative. You had Judge Timothy Kelley, he ordered the White House to, the quote is, immediately return, reinstate and restore the press credentials to the reporters of Ms Now, CNN and Politico as the litigation continues. And he made clear he thought that these news organizations were likely to prevail in the process. It was interesting, this was presented to the public and covered rightly as a big First Amendment battle over free speech, where they're being punished for their coverage by the president because he didn't like it. Fine, yes, maybe. But that wasn't what was decided here. Judge Kelley ruled that there was a clear violation of these institutions due process rights. That's part of the Fifth Amendment. That is, you can't have something taken away from you without being told ahead of time and being given a chance to weigh in and even appeal that decision. He said the government clearly would deprive them of that.

He dismissed the argument that the three outlets had jeopardized national security, which the administration's lawyers from the Justice Department had argued. He said there was no real record for that. He said that that doesn't hold.

Leila Fadel (2:39)

Now, you were at court yesterday. How did the hearing play out?

David Folkenflik (2:42)

Well, to be fair, it was a virtual hearing, so I listened in. I got to tell you, if you listened into the hearing, you pretty much knew this is where it was going to say. Before he let the lawyers from the two sides make their presentations, he said it seemed pretty clear to him that they had violated the right of due process. In fact, this same judge who had been appointed by President Trump during his first term made a ruling in a very similar case involving Jim Acosta, who at that time was a White House correspondent for CNN. And he said that at the time, he had been surprised to dig into the record and find out what due process required of him to find at that time. And he pointed to other precedents related to Trump during the Trump era and elsewise. He said there's no way in which he wasn't going to come up with this ruling at least for this moment in temporary restraining order. Theodore Boutros, the First Amendment lawyer representing these coalition of news outlets put out a statement about two o'clock in the morning. He said, this is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press due process and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court's swift action. And of course, the judge has said that the media outlets are likely to prevail.

Leila Fadel (3:44)

Now, other major news organizations have stood by CNN, MS Now and Politico, including NPR, not using pool coverage of the president or suspending pool coverage. So with this ruling, will everything go back to business as usual?

David Folkenflik (3:58)

Well, Boudreaux had made the argument that there was irreparable harm being done to the news organizations. And the judge bought into that. You saw that the White House video pool has not covered Trump events since those passes were withdrawn. So far in solidarity with CNN, the upcoming visit of the president of China will serve as a test.