Trump administration to defend its ban of major news outlets in court

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has defended Trump’s decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds, arguing in a court filing that the president has broad authority to determine which journalists can access the complex and that the outlets’s reporting raised national security concerns.

The dispute is set to go before a federal judge in Washington, DC, on Wednesday. The three news organisations sued the Trump administration on Monday to restore their access to the White House.

In a filing ahead of the hearing, Justice Department lawyers said the outlets had failed to meet what the administration described as standards of professionalism and decorum.

“Access to the White House is a privilege — not a right,” the filing said.

The White House press office sent letters to the three outlets on Tuesday alleging their coverage involved “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information”.

The letters, filed in court, cited CNN publishing “top-secret” construction details of a bunker beneath the White House’s East Wing, MS NOW coverage of the impact of the Iran war on US military munitions and a Politico report about funding for the White House ballroom that included details about Secret Service security improvements. It also cited Politico relying on anonymous sources for a report describing the Republican congressional midterm convention as a “disaster”.

The filing argues that publishing such information can divert national security personnel and resources as officials assess whether material is classified and determine its security implications.

The administration is also asking the court to overturn a 1977 appeals court ruling, Sherrill vs Knight, which held that White House press access could not be denied arbitrarily or without compelling reasons.