Federal judge grants preliminary injunction continuing to block Trump’s White House media ban
President Donald Trump stops to speak to members of the media as he departs on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 13, 2026, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A federal judge continued to block the Trump administration’s move to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly’s preliminary injunction orders the defendants to continue to preserve the status quo while the case proceeds.
The preliminary injunction was sought by the media organizations.
It follows a temporary restraining order the same judge issued last month blocking Trump’s attempt to ban the news organizations from the White House.
“We are grateful that the Court ruled in favor of our clients CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO and secured access to the White House for these news media organizations and their journalists,” Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., attorney for CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO, said in a statement obtained by ABC News.
“When the President issued his ‘ban on the free press,’ he blatantly and explicitly violated due process and the First Amendment. Since then, the President has repeatedly, candidly, and consistently admitted in public that he banned our clients from the White House to punish reporting he doesn’t like and to try to force journalists to cover him in ways he prefers,” Boutros Jr. added.
“The harm this ban did to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound. The Court was right to enjoin the White House from enforcing this ‘unconstitutional ban on the free press’ for the foreseeable future,” said Boutrous Jr.
Last month, CNN, MSNOW and Politico requested a temporary restraining order to restore their reporters’ access to the White House complex after Trump instituted the ban. In the lawsuit, the news organizations called Trump’s decision at “direct assault on the First Amendment” and a “blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
Trump said in a social media post in September that the “Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.”
The Department of Justice defended the ban, citing specific stories from each outlet that it claimed violated “standards of professionalism and decorum” by “trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information.”
Justice Department lawyer Michael Velchik last month argued that President Trump has broad authority to remove outlets based on national security determinations and the letters sent to the media organizations provided sufficient due process to justify revoking their passes.
“Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” Velchik said.
With her son George by her side, Democratic Wisconsin Gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong votes in the primary election on Aug. 11, 2026, in Madison, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Voters in six states on Tuesday decided which candidates will face off in November in House and Senate races that could determine whether the balance of power will shift in the next Congress.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a centrist Democrat, narrowly won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin in a major upset in the race for governor, the Associated Press projects. He defeated Wisconsin assemblywoman Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, in what became a high-stakes test for progressives who pinned their hopes on winning a major party nomination in a crucial battleground state.
And in Connecticut, 14-term Rep. John Larson became the seventh House Democrat incumbent to lose a primary during this election cycle.
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s primaries:
Wisconsin
Republican and Democratic candidates in Wisconsin are vying to win the first open gubernatorial seat since 2010, replacing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who announced last year that he wouldn’t run for reelection.
There are also primaries in both parties that could have an impact on which controls the House next year.
Incumbent Democratic Rep. John Larson will lose the Democratic primary for his 1st Congressional District seat to challenger Luke Bronin, the former mayor of Hartford, ABC News projects. Larson has held his seat since 1999. Larson is the seventh incumbent House Democrat to lose in primaries this year.
And Gov. Ned Lamont, who was elected in 2018, will fend off a primary challenge from Josh Elliott, ABC News projects. He’ll face Republican Ryan Fazio in November.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar will win the Democratic governor primary, ABC News projects, in the race to replace Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who is retiring. She will face state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who ABC projects will win the Republican governor’s primary, in November.
ABC News also projects Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan will win the Democratic primary in the race to replace Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, who is also retiring. She’ll face former NFL sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya, who ABC projects will win the Republican primary for Senate.
Minnesota also voted in primaries for several House races that could help determine the balance of power in Congress.
Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham who was appointed to fill the remainder of her brother’s term, will face Rep. Ralph Norman in an Aug. 25 runoff to replace Lindsey Graham on the November ballot, ABC News projects.
Lindsey Graham’s death in July sparked a rapid-fire campaign season. Eight other candidates besides Graham and Norman were running for the seat.
Economist Amanda Janoo will win the Democratic primary for governor, ABC News projects, and will face incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Scott in the general election in November.
In Alabama, some voters decided several House races following the Supreme Court decision that limited portions of the Voting Rights Act and led several states in the South to take part in mid-decade redistricting.
Primaries were held in May, but Republican Gov. Kay Ivey pushed back those in the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th districts that were impacted by redistricting after the Supreme Court decision.
President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside the NATO leaders summit at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(ANKARA, Turkey) — President Donald Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot air defense systems.
“One of the things we’re going to be talking about is, you’ll — we’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool, right?” Trump told Zelenskyy during a bilateral meeting at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.
“This way he can’t complain that we’re not giving him enough. I said, ‘Make them yourself,'” Trump added.
Trump said the company that manufactures Patriot systems hasn’t been informed yet, but “that’ll work out all right.”
But when asked whether Trump would be willing to provide Patriot interceptors to Ukraine up front while production gets into place, the president said the U.S. didn’t have that many missiles.
“We have Patriots, but we don’t have that many. We need them for ourselves, too,” he said.
The meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy in Ankara came as expenditures of U.S. Patriot PAC-3 interceptor missiles in Ukraine and the Middle East have dramatically outpaced current production capabilities, resulting in a critical global shortage as the Russia-Ukraine war drags on.
“We need to find a way to get as quick as possible, as much as possible, missiles for Patriot systems. This is the most important thing,” Zelenskyy said at a defense industry forum at the alliance’s annual summit on Tuesday.
Russia has sought to exploit this shortfall by launching concentrated bombardments of ballistic missiles and drone swarms at Ukrainian targets, overwhelming the country’s defenses and resulting in scores of civilian deaths.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy praised the U.S. for its support throughout the war.
“Mr. President, thank you very much for this meeting. And we’re thankful, as always, to your support, American support, bipartisan support,” he said.
Russia’s ‘last major advantage’
In an address to members of the NATO alliance on Tuesday, Zelenskyy stressed the critical nature of the shortage and argued it was time for Europe to produce its own systems to counter Russian ballistic missiles, calling the rocket-powered missiles Moscow’s “last major advantage.”
“We all value the Patriot system. It’s an excellent system,” he said. “But today’s wars have shown current Patriot production is not enough to meet the growing demand for protection against ballistic missiles. That is a fact.”
For his part, Trump presented a rosier outlook — asserting that an end to the conflict in Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year, could be on the horizon.
“I think we’re getting much closer than people realize, and President Putin wants it to end,” Trump said on Monday. “And President Zelenskyy actually wants it to end now.”
Trump also downplayed the impact of the war in Ukraine on Tuesday, saying “it doesn’t affect us” and depicting the conflict as a European issue. Trump had promised to end the war on Day 1 in office — a pledge he later said was hyperbolic.
Trump’s comments come amid Russian escalation in recent days. On Monday, Russian strikes targeted Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and energy infrastructure in and around Kyiv, according to Russia’s defense ministry.
Zelenskyy has been warning the Trump administration about the crucial depletion of interceptor missiles for several weeks. He is also pressing the U.S. to expedite a license that would allow Ukraine to manufacture Patriot batteries and interceptors domestically.
A strained relationship
The bilateral meeting tested the strength of Trump and Zelenskyy’s sometimes-rocky relationship at a time when Ukraine is facing new vulnerabilities on the battlefield and diplomacy with Russia has largely stalled.
Trump, on Wednesday, described Zelenskyy as a “difficult character,” but said they have a good relationship.
The leader’s first meeting of Trump’s second term — a February 2025 conversation in the Oval Office — devolved into a shouting match after Trump expressed skepticism about Ukraine’s position in the conflict and called for more gratitude from Zelenskyy for U.S. support.
But Trump appeared to grow more sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause over the past year as repeated efforts to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table fell flat.
A watershed moment came last July when, after repeatedly pausing military aid to Ukraine, Trump agreed to supply weapons to Ukraine if they were purchased from the U.S. by NATO allies.
And there have been signs over the past month that Trump is reengaging in efforts to bring peace to Ukraine and once again eager to coordinate a deal between Zelenskyy and Putin.
During their bilateral meeting, Trump said he spoke with Putin about the Russian president’s desire to set up a meeting in Moscow, though Zelenskyy wouldn’t commit to such a meeting.
Trump held calls with Zelenskyy and Putin over the weekend as both leaders congratulated the president on the 250th anniversary of the United States’ independence.
It’s unclear how substantive the conversations were, though a Kremlin aide said that Trump spoke to Putin for 90 minutes and again offered to help end the war. Zelenskyy said he had “a very good call” with Trump and conveyed there was a “real prospect” for peace.
Trump last met with Zelenskyy at the G7 summit in June, where he, at times, appeared friendly to Ukraine’s cause — describing Russia as the “offensive” party in the conflict and saying he was “going to do whatever” he could to strike a deal.
French President Emmanuel Macron — the host of the G7 summit — said after the meeting that he was optimistic about Trump’s support for Ukraine, claiming he observed “a real change in comparison to recent months” in his attitude.
(WASHINGTON) — A federal judge on Monday tossed out multiple Justice Department subpoenas to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other officials tied to a federal investigation regarding the state’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, according to a newly published legal opinion.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
