Wire reporting: (AP, via LAist)

Six people who say they depend on White House reporting for teaching, journalism or advocacy sued President Donald Trump and three administration officials on Monday in federal court in New York, arguing that limits on reporters’ access violate the public’s right to independent news^1,6.

The complaint was brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute and the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School, according to Associated Press accounts carried by WPXI and KXAN^3,4. Defendants named in that reporting include Trump, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, White House communications director Steven Cheung and Secret Service Director Sean M. Curran^3,4.

Al Jazeera reported that the case is the first of its kind filed by news consumers rather than the outlets that lost access¹. Plaintiffs listed across accounts include human-rights advocate Kenneth Roth, journalist Daniel Froomkin, a Yale history professor, high-school teacher Peter Schmidt-Nowara, a legal journalist, and University of Pennsylvania student journalist Ethan Young^1,3,6.

Young, a history and political science major and editor-in-chief of The Daily Pennsylvanian, is one of the six, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported⁶. The complaint asks a judge to find the White House policy unconstitutional because it imposes viewpoint-based and unreasonable restrictions on a limited public forum, and it seeks an injunction against enforcing that policy^6,4.

Al Jazeera quoted Schmidt-Nowara as saying, “I’m gravely concerned that the Trump administration’s restrictions on White House reporters are cutting off access to crucial information”¹. Roth, identified as a Yale senior fellow and former Human Rights Watch executive director, said in a statement carried by Al Jazeera that he had seen governments penalize independent journalists as a prelude to autocracy¹.

The suit sits alongside earlier challenges by news organizations. Al Jazeera said Trump last month barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists from White House news conferences, a federal judge later ordered access restored, and the administration continues to contest that ruling¹. AP copy via WPXI said a judge recently extended an order blocking enforcement of that ban while litigation continues, while CNN’s usual slots in the presidential video pool remain affected³.

The Inquirer, citing the complaint, said the Associated Press was barred from the press pool in February 2025 after it continued to use “Gulf of Mexico,” and that credentials for CNN, MS NOW and Politico were revoked last month⁶. AP copy via WPXI also noted the continuing AP access case³.

Asked about the new lawsuit, the Trump administration issued a statement attributed to an unidentified White House official, according to AP reporting via WPXI and The Philadelphia Inquirer, saying no person may demand Oval Office access and that outlets the official accused of misinformation could report from outside^3,6. Al Jazeera did not include that comment¹.

Al Jazeera also reported that Trump last week dismissed accounts that he planned to evict journalists from the briefing room to restore a swimming pool, while saying he was still considering moving the press to free space¹. What a court will do with the citizens’ claims, and whether the White House will file a detailed response, was not yet reported^1,3,6.