Welcome to today’s daily update for Friday, September 25, 2026. Here’s everything you need to know.
The Breakdown
The White House has restored access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico after a district judge filed a temporary injunction against President Trump’s attempt to ban them for propagating “fake news.”
Last week, Trump announced that the three networks would be banned from entering the White House grounds due to their stance against his administration, which he considered harmful and a threat to “national security.”
Journalists from the three news corporations subsequently saw their entry passes revoked, forced to report from outside the grounds. They instantly filed a joint lawsuit against the move, arguing that the ban infringes upon their constitutional rights and was simply a way to silence the press.
CNN also happens to be a part of the White House “press pool,” a group of five news networks that covers the events taking place at the president’s residence. These five rotate coverage of the White House every five days, with each network covering events for one day in a rotation. However, CNN’s ban from the White House prevented them from executing their official duties as part of the press pool, sparking a complete shutdown of White House coverage from ABC, CBS, Fox News, and NBC.
Later on, the White House doubled down. They claimed that they did not need these networks and pivoted to the launch of “Trump TV,” a channel that would provide the latest news from the Trump administration. Many pointed out that this was practically state-run TV, which is common in communist or authoritarian states where the government controls the press.
However, the issue was temporarily resolved in the courts yesterday, with US District Judge Timothy Kelly confirming that the president’s ban is likely unconstitutional. While the lawsuit proceeds, the judge has reinstated journalists’ access for the next 14 days. Nevertheless, press passes for journalists of the three organizations were still not provided, forcing the judge to order the administration to respond in writing by 12:30 pm.
The administration complied with the order, and access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico journalists was restored later in the day. It was not immediately clear why the move had not been made immediately.
The Global Snapshot
Yesterday, the Senate voted against ending the Iran war, barely blocking a Democrat-led resolution that would have seen the US remove forces from the Middle East in an attempt to wind down the conflict. Republicans, who hold a majority in the Senate, managed to block the resolution by just one vote, 50-49. The resolution had already been passed by the House, with several Republicans defecting to support Democrats amid rising concerns over the midterms. Early November will see the re-election of all of the seats in the House of Representatives and around one-third of Senate seats, putting Republicans at risk of losing their majority as the Trump administration continues on its highly unpopular agenda – current approval ratings for the president are down to somewhere between 32% and 38%.
Concerns across Europe are quickly increasing after a new Danish report revealed that there is a “growing risk” that Russia could attack a NATO nation within months. Russia has been fighting against Ukraine for more than four and a half years, but the latter has not backed down, aided by military assistance and funding from various Western nations. Recent reports, European spies, and several leaders have confirmed that Putin could take a more radical stance towards the conflict in the near future as he becomes more frustrated with Ukraine, which could result in hybrid attacks on Europe. This type of conflict, known as hybrid warfare, lacks military strikes or physical damage – instead, Russia would attack intangible yet integral parts of a nation like internet, communications, and the power grid.
Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): In the film Star Wars: Episode Three – Revenge of the Sith, every single one of the Clone Troopers was produced using CGI effects.
Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Unity is strength, division is weakness. (Swahili Proverb)
Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Pundit (noun, PUN-dit) - A pundit is someone, especially an expert, who presents their opinions and ideas on a particular subject via the media.
In a Sentence: Grandpa likes watching political pundits spar about the issues of the day on the Sunday morning talk shows.
Image: Flickr / Public Domain
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