President Donald Trump announced Friday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House because of reporting he characterized as false and unfair. Reporters from the three organizations were subsequently denied access, and the outlets filed a federal lawsuit alleging violations of their First and Fifth Amendment rights.

The action represents a significant escalation in the administration’s long-running conflict with the press. The constitutional question is not whether these organizations have reported every story perfectly nor whether their coverage has been favorable to the president. The question is whether the federal government may selectively deny access to established news organizations because it objects to their journalism.

The press does not possess an unlimited right to enter every part of the White House. Security requirements, physical limitations and orderly procedures all justify reasonable access rules. But when the government provides press access, longstanding court precedent requires that decisions concerning White House credentials be governed by established standards and appropriate due process, not arbitrary retaliation based on a journalist’s reporting.

The administration is entitled to challenge inaccurate reporting. The president and his staff can dispute stories, release contrary evidence, request corrections and appear before the public to present their position. Those are legitimate responses in a free society. Excluding particular organizations because the White House considers their coverage hostile presents a fundamentally different issue: It allows the government to determine which journalists may directly observe and question those exercising executive power.

That precedent would not be confined to one president or one political party. Any authority claimed by this administration could later be used by a Democratic administration against conservative news organizations or by another Republican administration against a different group of critics. Constitutional protections matter most when they are applied consistently, including to speakers whose work government officials strongly dislike.

The ban has also disrupted the television press pool. ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC suspended pooled video coverage after the White House prevented CNN from performing its scheduled pool duty. Print, radio and wire-service reporting continued, but the networks declined to substitute another outlet for CNN.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico have asked a federal judge to block enforcement of the ban and restore their White House credentials. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who in 2018 ordered the temporary restoration of then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s press pass during an earlier dispute with the Trump administration. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the present lawsuit would affirm the First Amendment principle that the government should not be able to punish coverage it dislikes.

Americans do not have to admire CNN, MS NOW or Politico to recognize what is at stake. Press freedom is not a reward for favorable treatment of an administration. It is a limitation on government power, and that protection must apply regardless of who occupies the White House or which news organization is being excluded.

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