Trump is still defying judge’s orders by banning media access, CNN, MS NOW and Politico say

Three major news outlets - CNN, MSNBC, and Politico - have intensified their legal battle against the White House over press access, claiming the administration is still ignoring a judge's orders. The outlets assert that President Donald Trump is retaliating against them for unfavorable reports, which they argue violates their First Amendment free speech rights and prevents them from covering the president in the Oval Office and on Air Force One.

Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., the outlets' attorney, stated in a statement that the White House continues to block their reporters from covering Trump in the locations he frequents most. The latest filing seeks to make the previous orders permanent, arguing that the president or anyone else cannot punish news outlets for reporting content they disagree with, which constitutes viewpoint discrimination prohibited by the First Amendment.

Trump, however, maintains that he has the right to exclude any news outlet whose reporting he deems insufficiently favorable from the rotating press pool. The White House has not commented on the amended lawsuit as of Thursday morning. The lawsuit comes two weeks after U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled in favor of CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, expanding a previous decision that the administration violated their Fifth Amendment right to due process.

Kelly also found that Trump's ban on their access breached their First Amendment right to free speech, rejecting his argument that it was driven by policy goals like national security and citing his stated belief that the outlets' reporting was inaccurate and biased.