By Danielle Ngamegni
Students at the University of Maryland expressed concern about press freedom following President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke press access for major news outlets.
“Media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sept. 18. The following day, reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico had their press badges confiscated by the U.S. Secret Service.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, halted the decision and issued a temporary restraining order on Sept. 24. He required the Trump administration to reinstate press passes to the banned outlets, according to USA Today. In the legal battle, Trump is invoking national security concerns to justify his position.
All three major networks issued statements in support of their reporters and said they will continue to defend their First Amendment rights.
Lucy Dalglish, journalism law and ethics professor at UMD, said that revoking press badges violates the Fifth Amendment in addition to the First Amendment.
“You cannot remove that access without giving notice and an opportunity to be appeal or to be heard,” Dalglish said.
According to USA Today, major networks like ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News stood in solidarity with the banned networks and suspended their White House pool coverage, missing major events such as Trump addressing the United Nations assembly on Sept. 22.
“It’s not an easy thing to decide to do because you’re weighing the public right to know what’s going on with the White House against the punishment coming toward video, particularly CNN’s pool cameras,” Dalglish said.
Ananya Vijay, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said that Trump’s targeting of specific news outlets he views as liberal raises concerns about government control over the narrative of news.
“Whatever he deemed to be an issue of security clearance, he should just have been blocked like the entirety of the news outlets, not just a specific group of them,” Vijay said.
Students across campus share the same sentiment involving their First Amendment rights.
Sophomore public policy major Zully Villeda Calderon viewed Trump as worried about how the current media coverage of his administration might impact Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections.
“If he’s able to take away something so important, which is freedom of press, who knows what he could do next? … Our First Amendment is at risk, and that we need to protect it at all costs,” Villeda Calderon said.
Caitlin Kim, junior journalism and government & politics major, said Trump is “cherry-picking” the news networks that get to cover him.
Dalglish said, as a single journalist, it can be hard to fight back, but joining groups that support our First Amendment can be helpful.
“Don’t accept it and tolerate it,” Dalglish said. “Figure out how to get active and fight back because this the First Amendment is something worth fighting for.”
Featured Image: Knight Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park on Sept. 30, 2026. Photo by Vanessa Lim.