Trump faces private citizens lawsuit over limiting White House media access

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkThe James S Brady Press Briefing Room, following media reports that US President Donald Trump is considering evicting the press from the media workspace and restoring the indoor swimming pool Franklin D Roosevelt installed in 1933, in Washington, DC, on October 21, 2026 [File: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters]By Umar FarooqPublished On 26 Oct 202626 Oct 2026A group of private citizens has sued the administration of United States President Donald Trump over its restrictions on news outlets covering the White House.“All of the Plaintiffs rely on the White House press corps for independent reporting about the president and his administration, and all of them use that reporting in a variety of ways in their scholarship, teaching, journalism, or advocacy,” says the lawsuit, filed on Monday in a federal court in New York.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump ordered to sit for deposition in BBC defamation lawsuitlist 2 of 3Trump says he may move White House press corps to new locationlist 3 of 3White House restores CNN, MS NOW, Politico access after hours of chaosend of listThe lawsuit is the first lodged not by the news outlets being banned, but by those who consume the news and rely on it for their work.The plaintiffs include a human rights advocate, a media watchdog, a university history professor, a high school teacher, a legal journalist and a student journalist.Each argues they need unbiased, diverse media reporting from the White House to do their work.“I’m gravely concerned that the Trump administration’s restrictions on White House reporters are cutting off access to crucial information,” Peter Schmidt-Nowara, a high school social studies teacher in New York City, said in a statement.“I joined this lawsuit because my students deserve to know what’s happening in their government and to hear from a free and independent press.”Trump already faces several legal challenges to his practice of banning journalists from outlets he dislikes from accessing the White House.Last month, he banned journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from attending news conferences at the White House. A federal judge later ruled the order was unconstitutional, a violation of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press, and ordered access be restored. However, the Trump administration continues to fight the ruling.Last week, Trump dismissed reporting that he planned to evict journalists from the White House press briefing room and restore a swimming pool that was housed there starting in 1933. But he said he is still considering moving the press out of the briefing room.“I am thinking about moving the Press, and putting them in a different location, but I will use that location for very badly needed space,” Trump said in a social media post.Kenneth Roth, a senior fellow at Yale University and former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said the restrictions on press access were familiar postmarks in countries whose leaders have become authoritarian.“Worldwide, I have seen how governmental leaders’ efforts to penalise independent journalists are a prelude to the rise of autocracy,” he said in a statement.