A US federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore White House press access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico, ruling that the decision to ban the three news organisations was likely unconstitutional.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued the order on Thursday, directing the administration to immediately return the outlets’ press passes and barring officials from enforcing the ban for 14 days while the legal challenge proceeds.

The ruling strikes at the administration’s justification for excluding the journalists, with Kelly rejecting its claim that the restrictions were necessary on national security grounds.

According to the judge, the evidence before the court did not establish that revoking the journalists’ hard passes would protect national security or that restoring their access would put national security at risk.

Kelly also noted that Trump had publicly linked the ban to what he described as the outlets’ alleged lack of truthfulness and negative reporting, rather than presenting a demonstrable national security threat.

The three media organisations had challenged the September 18 decision in court, turning the dispute into a broader constitutional battle over presidential control of access to the White House and the rights of journalists to report on the administration.

The development, reported by The Independent, is the latest escalation in the increasingly tense relationship between Trump and sections of the American media.