Media Outlets Sue Trump Administration

President Donald Trump announced the ban on Friday, accusing the organizations of writing “fiction or lies” about his team.

In a joint statement on Monday, the organizations said they were pursuing legal action to defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports.

Trump reacted to the lawsuit, calling the news organizations “Third Rate Clowns” and “Crooked and Corrupt Press”.

He wrote on his Truth Social platform that organizations writing “false and defamatory stories” shouldn’t have access to the White House.

Trump added that his team will “almost without question” file an appeal.

Major US TV networks announced they would suspend their White House pooled coverage as Trump heads to the United Nations General Assembly.

Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton wrote in an email that the TV pool would not be covering events designated as pool coverage.

CNN was originally due to cover Trump’s trip to the UN General Assembly in New York.

On Monday morning, the CNN booth in the White House press area was empty and closed.

Five TV networks issued a joint statement saying the public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government.

The First Amendment forbids the government from “abridging” the freedom of the press.

The media organizations filed the lawsuit in US District Court in Washington, asking a judge to rule Trump’s ban unconstitutional.