Trump faces private citizens lawsuit over limiting White House media access

The plaintiffs argue they are losing access to vital information media outlets covering Trump used to provide.

The 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]

A 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.

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list 2 of 3 Trump says he may move White House press corps to new location

list 3 of 3 White House restores CNN, MS NOW, Politico access after hours of chaos

The 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.

原告辩称，他们正在失去获取媒体报道特朗普时所提供的关键信息的途径。

2026年10月21日，在华盛顿特区，詹姆斯·S·布雷迪新闻发布室，此前有媒体报道称，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普正在考虑将媒体人员驱逐出媒体工作区，并恢复富兰克林·D·罗斯福于1933年建造的室内游泳池。[图片：凯文·拉马克/路透社]

一群私人公民就美国总统唐纳德·特朗普政府限制新闻媒体报道白宫一事提起诉讼。

“所有原告都依赖白宫记者团对总统及其政府进行独立报道，并且他们都在学术研究、教学、新闻报道或倡导活动中以各种方式使用这些报道，”该诉讼于周一在纽约联邦法院提起。

特朗普被勒令就BBC诽谤诉讼接受质询的三项指控之一

特朗普表示，他可能会将白宫记者团迁至新址（共3条，此为第2条）。

白宫在数小时混乱后恢复了 CNN、MS NOW 和 Politico 的访问权限（共 3 条，此为第 3 条）

这是首例并非由被禁新闻媒体提起，而是由新闻消费者和依赖新闻开展工作的人员提起的诉讼。

原告包括一名人权倡导者、一名媒体监督员、一名大学历史教授、一名高中教师、一名法律记者和一名学生记者。

双方都认为，他们需要来自白宫的公正、多元化的媒体报道才能开展工作。

“我非常担心特朗普政府对白宫记者的限制正在切断他们获取关键信息的渠道，”纽约市高中社会研究教师彼得·施密特-诺瓦拉在一份声明中说。

“我参与这场诉讼是因为我的学生有权了解政府正在发生的事情，并有权听到自由独立的媒体的声音。”

特朗普禁止他不喜欢的媒体记者进入白宫的做法，已经面临多项法律挑战。

上个月，他禁止CNN、MS NOW和Politico的记者参加白宫新闻发布会。一位联邦法官后来裁定该禁令违宪，违反了保护新闻自由的宪法第一修正案，并下令恢复记者的采访权限。然而，特朗普政府仍在继续上诉。

上周，特朗普否认了有关他计划将记者赶出白宫新闻发布室并恢复自 1933 年起就设在那里的游泳池的报道。但他表示，他仍在考虑将媒体人员迁出新闻发布室。

特朗普在社交媒体上发帖称：“我正在考虑搬迁新闻发布厅，把他们安置在另一个地方，但我会把腾出的地方用作急需的空间。”

耶鲁大学高级研究员、人权观察组织前执行主任肯尼斯·罗斯表示，限制新闻自由的做法在那些领导人变得专制的国家里屡见不鲜。

他在一份声明中说：“在世界各地，我看到各国政府领导人惩罚独立记者的举动，是专制主义兴起的前兆。”