White House restores access to media outlets banned by Trump after judge's order

CNN, Politico and MS NOW reporters have been allowed back into the White House after they sought an emergency court hearing to restore their revoked press access.

They accused the White House in a court filing of having "repeatedly violated" a judge's order lifting President Donald Trump's ban on the three media outlets.

But the White House said in a filing that it began reinstating access shortly after 09:00 EDT (13:00 GMT) on Thursday.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico reported they were granted entry hours after some of their staff were turned away. Trump initially said he barred the outlets because of "fake news". The White House later cited national security.

In the early hours, Judge Timothy Kelly had ruled the ban on the outlets should be temporarily lifted because it "likely violated their constitutional due process rights".

The White House in its filing said that the press passes had been restored by 09:07 local time and that confiscated badges were available starting at 09:45.

The standoff limited some TV coverage as Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House ahead of a state dinner.

CNN said some of their journalists were denied entry, including senior White House reporter Betsy Klein. But a producer was allowed to enter, the outlet reported.