A federal judge recently ordered the White House to lift a ban on media coverage by three news outlets previously restricted by former President Donald Trump. The ruling by Judge Timothy Kelly said the ban likely violated the outlets' constitutional due process rights. The judge questioned the White House's claim that the ban was justified for national security reasons, pointing out that the president had not cited this justification when he first announced the ban. As a result, the White House was required to return press passes to journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico and to stop enforcing the ban for 14 days. Despite the ruling, CNN reported that shortly before Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived for a state dinner, the White House only allowed coverage by a photojournalist and an audio technician, but not a full team that included a reporter and producer. MS NOW White House reporter Laura Barron-Lopez said she was told by White House staff that she could not enter and was instructed to contact the White House communications director. The BBC has reached out to the White House for comment. A White House communications account on X (formerly Twitter) stated, "contrary to what the Fake News wants you to believe, they don't just get to have free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call." This incident is the latest in a series of events surrounding the ban on certain media outlets at the White House. Despite the court ruling, CNN, Politico, and MS NOW reported being denied entry to the White House on Thursday morning, which led to a request for an emergency court hearing. In response, the director of White House Operations said in a court filing that press passes and confiscated badges had been restored by 09:45 local time (13:45 GMT). Shortly after, all three outlets confirmed they were allowed back in. Former President Trump initially barred the outlets, calling them "fake news." By Saturday morning, each outlet reported being denied entry to the White House grounds and having their press badges confiscated. All three outlets accused the Trump administration of violating their constitutional rights. In a joint statement on Monday, they said they were pursuing legal action to "defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports." More than 50 media organizations across the ideological spectrum filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit, including Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. The US Department of Justice had accused the news outlets of threatening national security with their coverage, citing stories about missile stockpiles, the construction of the White House ballroom, and the recent Republican midterm convention. The incident follows previous instances of administrations attempting to limit certain outlets' access, such as when the Obama administration tried to exclude Fox News from participating in a specific press pool interview with an administration official in 2009. After objections from the other four networks in the press pool, Fox News was allowed in.