JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Trump administration officials bowed to pressure from a federal judge today. They allowed CNN, MS NOW and Politico back onto White House grounds after revoking their press passes because of coverage President Trump did not like. Here's CNN's Betsy Klein.
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BETSY KLEIN: Very happy to be getting back to work here. But this happened just a moment ago. We were escorted through the first checkpoint that we had had a little bit of trouble accessing.
SUMMERS: NPR's Brian Mann has been following developments. And Brian, at first it seemed like the White House was maybe not going to follow the judge's order, so tell us what happened.
BRIAN MANN, BYLINE: Yeah, Juana, here's how this played out. Early this morning, Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to reinstate these press passes for these organizations. He said the government had denied their constitutional rights to due process. He also rejected the government's argument that there was a national security reason for banning these journalists. But then when reporters turned up to work at the White House this morning, they were initially turned away, and for several tense hours that raised the specter of a major standoff between the executive branch and the judiciary over press freedoms.
The reporters were finally allowed onto White House grounds. In a legal filing, the head of the White House press operations, Micah Stopperich, said it just took time to reinstate the press passes. So the White House did back down. The judge's order is in effect for 14 days. Another hearing is expected in federal court to determine what happens next.
SUMMERS: Now, when the White House banned these three news organizations, it caused other media outlets to limit their coverage of the president. How did that play out today?
MANN: Well, it was a pretty dramatic change. Trump was meeting in Washington with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Normally, journalists working with TV, photography and audio pools would be sharing moment-by-moment coverage of that summit, and instead, the coverage was much more muted. NPR is among the news organizations that boycotted White House pool coverage in protest over Trump's ban. And it's still not clear when full coverage of the president will be restored. TV networks are demanding that the White House offer written assurances that CNN will have full access and be treated equally with other outlets. That part of this dispute remains unresolved.
SUMMERS: What's President Trump had to say about today's developments?
MANN: Well, writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump again accused U.S. journalists, without offering evidence, of conspiring to make up false stories about him. Then, according to a pool report from press photographers with Trump today during his meeting with Xi, Trump reportedly made a joke about China having the friendliest press corps. China, of course, is a communist nation with overwhelming government control over free speech and the press.
SUMMERS: NPR's Brian Mann, thanks as always.
MANN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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