Nicolai Haugsted
Trump blames his own judicial appointment as he predicts defeat in media lawsuit.
Donald Trump has spent years fighting news organizations he considers hostile to him. His latest confrontation has now moved from the White House gates to a federal courtroom – and the president appears to have already started thinking about round two.
CNN, Politico and MS NOW filed a joint lawsuit on Monday after the Trump administration barred them from White House access. The organizations argue that the decision violates constitutional protections for freedom of the press and due process.
Trump has responded with little ambiguity.
Before Judge Timothy Kelly has even ruled on the dispute, the president is publicly suggesting that an unfavorable decision is likely and that his administration will appeal.
The slightly awkward detail for Trump is who put Kelly on the federal bench.
Trump did.
Kelly is hardly an unfamiliar name in the long-running battle between Trump and the press.
During Trump’s first term, Kelly handled the 2018 dispute surrounding CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta.
The White House had revoked Acosta’s press credential following a contentious press conference. Kelly subsequently ordered the administration to temporarily restore it, finding due-process problems with the way the credential had been taken away. CNN later dropped the lawsuit before a final judgment was reached.
Trump clearly remembers the episode.
“They have drawn a great Judge, for them, a man who ruled in favor of Jim Acosta, who now seems to have disappeared from the Planet,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday according to The Guardian.
Then came the part that made the situation considerably more peculiar.
“The Judge’s name is Tim Kelly, and he was, sadly, appointed by ‘TRUMP,'” the president wrote.
Kelly was nominated to the US District Court for the District of Columbia by Trump in 2017.
Trump is already preparing for the next courtroom
No ruling has yet gone against the administration in the new case.
Trump nevertheless appears to have a fairly clear idea of where he thinks proceedings are heading.
“In other words, almost without question and, as usual, we’ll go for appeal,” he wrote.
Trump tied that expectation to his broader criticism of the three organizations, accusing them of publishing negative and false stories based on unidentified sources and arguing that such outlets should not receive White House access. Those are Trump’s allegations; the news organizations dispute the administration’s justification for excluding them.
“Why should I have to give ‘access’ to such people? Perhaps Judge Kelly could explain that!” Trump added.
The answer to that question now sits at the heart of the lawsuit.
The Acosta case could matter again
Kelly’s involvement does not determine how he will rule in the new dispute.
Still, his previous decision provides an obvious reason for the 2018 case to receive renewed attention.
Back then, Kelly concluded that the White House had failed to provide sufficient due process when it revoked Acosta’s credential. The administration lacked adequate written standards, notice and an opportunity for the reporter to respond to the decision.
The current lawsuit presents its own facts and legal arguments, meaning the earlier ruling does not automatically dictate the outcome.
Trump, however, is already treating Kelly’s history as a warning sign.
His Truth Social post managed to combine an attack on the news organizations, criticism of the judge and an acknowledgement that Kelly reached the federal bench because Trump nominated him.
