--- title: Trump Responds to CNN Lawsuit Over Jim Acosta WH Press Pass description: The White House defended revoking the pass of CNN's Jim Acosta, arguing reporters don’t have a Constitutional right to enter. canonical: https://time.com/5454502/white-house-response-cnn-lawsuit/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-14T16:51:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:06:16.246Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House: No 'First Amendment Right' for Reporters to Enter Building in CNN Lawsuit og:description: Fox News President also said his network supports CNN in its legal effort og:url: https://time.com/5454502/white-house-response-cnn-lawsuit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e8f0dc72a3ca02f/69893f1bfb4eac38b189836c/trump-acosta.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-acosta og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House: No 'First Amendment Right' for Reporters to Enter Building in CNN Lawsuit twitter:description: Fox News President also said his network supports CNN in its legal effort twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e8f0dc72a3ca02f/69893f1bfb4eac38b189836c/trump-acosta.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Says Journalists Don't Have 'First Amendment Right' to Enter Building in Legal Response to CNN Lawsuit > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=6042cbdf-93e9-432a-b019-68924c014598&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Full Exchange of President Trump's Clash With CNN's Jim Acosta [Watch (HLS stream): Full Exchange of President Trump's Clash With CNN's Jim Acosta](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/awijApEQ.m3u8) (2:38)  _Published 2018-11-08. Full Exchange of President Trump and CNN's Jim Acosta_ by [Andrew Harris and David Voreacos / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Andrew Harris and David Voreacos / Bloomberg Contributor Nov 14, 2018 4:51 PM UTC Full Exchange of President Trump and CNN's Jim Acosta by [Andrew Harris and David Voreacos / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Andrew Harris and David Voreacos / Bloomberg Contributor Nov 14, 2018 4:51 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — The Trump Administration defended its decision to revoke the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, arguing reporters don’t have a Constitutional right to access the White House. President Donald Trump’s Justice Department filed a response Wednesday to CNN’s lawsuit hours ahead of a hearing in federal court in Washington, where the network sued Trump and top aides over the decision to pull Acosta’s White House credentials after he clashed with the president at a Nov. 7 news conference. “No journalist has a First Amendment right to enter the White House,” Justice Department lawyers argued in a 28-page filing, adding the president has broad discretion to decide who gets press passes. “The president is generally free to open the White House doors to political allies, in the hopes of furthering a particular agenda, and he is equally free to invite in only political foes, in the hopes of convincing them of his position,” the lawyers said in the filing. “The First Amendment simply does not regulate these decisions.” The filing ratchets up the dispute between the news media and Trump, who has repeatedly denigrated reporters who question his actions, focusing his ire on CNN. The network said Trump engaged in an “unabashed attempt to censor the press” by banning Acosta, who has gained notoriety for his aggressive questioning of the president. Fox News President Jay Wallace said Wednesday his network supports CNN in its legal effort to regain Acosta’s credentials and will file court documents opposing the Trump administration’s decision. > [](https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1062738395812818945) In its lawsuit CNN claimed that Trump’s administration violated Acosta’s due process rights by revoking his press credentials without warning and false claims that he placed his hands on a White House intern who tried to take his microphone during the news conference. CNN’s lawsuit threatens to throw its owner, AT&T Inc., and the Trump administration back in court just months after the two sides squared off before a judge over whether AT&T can buy Time Warner Inc. AT&T won the case, though the Justice Department has appealed the decision. The case is Cable News Network Inc. v. Donald J. Trump, 18-cv-2610, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington). ## Transcript In the midterms. That this- Here we go. Well, if you don't mind, Mr. President- [ CROSSTALK ] come on. That this caravan was an invasion. As you know, Mr. President- I consider it to be an invasion. As you know, Mr. President, the caravan was not an invasion. It's a group of migrants moving up from Central America towards the border with the US- Thank you for telling me that. I appreciate it. And why did you characterize it as such And- Cuz I consider it an invasion, you and I have a difference of opinion. But do you think that you demonized immigrants- Not at all. In this election, try to keep- No, not at all. I want them to come into the country, but they have to come in legally. They have to come in, Jim, the a process I want it to be a process, and I want people to come in, and we need the people. No- Right, your campaign, your campaign- Wait, wait, wait. You know why we need the people, don't you? Because we have hundreds of companies moving in, we need the people. Right, they're hundreds of miles away, though. They're hundreds and hundreds of miles away. You know what? That's not an invasion- I think you should, honestly Miles away, that's not an invasion. You know what, honestly? I think you should let me run the country, you run CNN. And if you did it well, your ratings would be much better. Let me ask, if may ask one question. Okay, that's enough. Mr. President- That's enough. Ask one other- That's enough. The other folks- That's enough. Pardon me, ma'am, Mr. President- That's enough. Mr. President, I have one other question if I may ask on the Russian investigation, are you concerned That you may have indictments- I'm not concerned about anything with the Russian investigation because it's a hoax. That's enough, put down the mic. Mr. President, are you worried about indictments coming down in this investigation? [ CROSSTALK ] Mr. President? I'll tell you what, CNN should be ashamed of itself having you working for them. You are a rude Terrible person, you shouldn't be working for CNN. Go ahead. I think that's unfair. You're a very rude person, the way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible, and the way you treat other people are horrible, you shouldn't treat people that way. Go ahead. In Jim's- Go ahead Peter, go ahead. In Jim's defense, I've traveled with him and watched him, he's a diligent reporter who busts his **** like the rest of us. Well I'm not a big fan of yours either so. I understand. So let me ask you a question if I can- You are the best. Mr. President, you repeatedly over the course- Okay, just sit down, please. When you report fake news, no, when you report fake news which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people, go ahead. Mr. President, over the course Over the course of the last several days of the campaign sir. Sir at the end of the campaign you repeatedly said that Americans need to fear democrats. You said would unleash a wave of violent crime that dangers families everywhere. Why are you- Because they're very weak on crime. Why are you pitting- Excuse me. Why are you- Excuse me. Pitting americans against- Peter. One another sir? Peter, are you trying to be him? No, I'm just asking a question. Let me just tell you. Very simple, because they're very weak on crime. 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