Trump administration loses in court: Journalists are now allowed back into the White House

US President Donald Trump has suffered a legal defeat in a dispute with three American media organizations. As expected by many - including Trump himself - a federal judge on Thursday ordered the three media companies that President Trump banned from attending White House events last week to be temporarily allowed back in. After media representatives were denied access on Thursday morning local time, they were finally able to report from on site again during the course of the day.

Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order in favor of CNN, MS NOW and Politico shortly after midnight. This means that journalists from these media outlets are allowed back into the White House, at least for the time being. It was only on Saturday that the government revoked their accreditations on the instructions of the president.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico then jointly filed a lawsuit against Trump and other government officials on Monday to challenge this decision. The plaintiffs argued that the revocation of the accreditations violated their constitutional rights.

Trump explained that his decision to expel the three media outlets was not based on any specific report, but rather the accumulation of what he perceived as "two years of unfair and negative reporting." According to the president, these media outlets have repeatedly spread “fake news” about him and his government.

The US Department of Justice also defended the media blackout in a court hearing on Wednesday by saying that the three media outlets were excluded primarily because their reporting had endangered national security.

Judge Kelly was skeptical of this representation. "Nothing in the record ... suggests that the revocation of plaintiffs' permanent access privileges was motivated by national security concerns," he wrote. The judge also pointed out that the defendants had not provided any evidence of this.

"This is a strong ruling that reaffirms freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law. [...] We very much welcome the court's swift action," Theodore Boutrous Jr., the lawyer for the media houses, told the Associated Press news agency.

At the hearing, he also pointed out that the ban had caused irreparable damage to media companies at a time of many significant events. "We are at war. We have world leaders coming to Washington," Boutrous argued, alluding to the Iran war and Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington on Wednesday.

Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik, however, reiterated the government's position that the president has the right to decide who goes to the White House. “Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” Velchik said.

The Trump administration had not yet commented on the decision as of the taz's editorial deadline. As of early Thursday morning local time, it was unclear how the government would deal with the ruling: the affected broadcasters were denied access until then. During the day, several US media outlets finally reported that reporters from CNN and MS NOW had been allowed back into the White House.

The exclusion of CNN, MS NOW and Politico triggered solidarity from various media outlets. The US broadcasters' joint press pool - consisting of the five major networks, including CNN and Fox News - has suspended coverage of events with Trump that take place in the pool format.

This ban was not the Trump administration's first attack on press freedom, and many experts suspect it likely won't be the last.

In addition to attacks on press freedom, there will also be no international election observers in the upcoming congressional elections. The European security organization OSCE announced on Wednesday that its election observers had not been invited to the November midterms.

“These are the first U.S. federal elections since the OSCE began its observation activities in the country for which the OSCE did not receive an invitation,” the organization said in a press release. The decision was “not in line with the commitments that all OSCE participating States have made,” it said. The United States is a member of the OSCE.

“After more than two decades of the United States welcoming OSCE observers to its federal elections, this decision represents a significant departure from established democratic practice. […] I deeply regret this decision,” said Pere Joan Pons, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

It is another attempt by the Trump administration to undermine public and democratic institutions.