The White House on Thursday continued to bar access to journalists from three media outlets, despite a ruling by a US federal judge to restore their press passes.
A judge from the District Court in Washington told the White House to “immediately return, reinstate, and restore” the press credentials held by CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
The ruling is a temporary order while the litigation proceeds.
Last week, major American television networks suspended their pooled coverage of President Donald Trump after the White House barred the three outlets from accessing the grounds.
Mr Trump said that the three outlets purposely publish negative news about his administration. In court, lawyers argued that the move was necessary to protect national security.
On Monday, the outlets sued the administration.
The judge found that the media outlets were likely to succeed in their claim that the ban was a violation of their First Amendment rights under the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press.
The judge also found that the White House did not provide the outlets with sufficient advance notice.
But on Thursday morning, Politico and MS NOW said their reporters were denied access to the White House.
The White House did not have an immediate comment.
The move is the latest escalation in Mr Trump’s long-running and contentious relationship with the media.
On Thursday, he is due to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House for a reciprocal state visit.
It is unclear if the pool media will conduct its work as usual.
Mr Trump has long had an uneasy relationship with the media. He has repeatedly attacked news organisations over coverage he considers unfavourable towards his administration, calling them “fake news”.
Last year, he banned the Associated Press from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other areas because the news agency said it would continue to call the Gulf of Mexico by that name, rather than changing it to the Gulf of America following an executive order by Mr Trump.
