MS NOW White House correspondent Vaughn Hillyard reports from a street corner just outside the White House after US President Donald Trump banned three major news outlets (CNN, MS NOW and Politico). [Photo Credit: Reuters]

A US judge appeared skeptical on Wednesday about the legality of Donald Trump’s decision to bar CNN, ​MS NOW and Politico journalists from the White House, indicating he may grant their request to lift the ban they describe as unlawful retaliation for news coverage ‌the president dislikes.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly said at a hearing in Washington that Trump’s ban did not appear to comply with past legal precedents by failing to give the news outlets an opportunity to respond. Kelly did not immediately rule on a bid by the three outlets for a temporary restraining order lifting the ban while their legal challenge plays out, but said he would do so soon.

Trump announced the ban on Friday on his social ​media platform, saying those news organizations “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States.” The Justice Department has emphasized ​Trump’s contention that the ban is legally justified on national security grounds.

The outlets said in a lawsuit filed on Monday that the ban violated the US ⁠Constitution’s First Amendment protections for freedom of speech and a free press, as well as their rights to due process, meaning fair treatment from the government.

The judge said it does not appear ​that Trump complied with two past rulings by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit by failing to give the news outlets a meaningful opportunity to contest the revocation of ​their access.

Kelly, who Trump appointed in 2017, noted that the government contends that those cases were wrongly decided.

Theodore Boutrous, a lawyer for the news outlets, told Kelly that the ban discriminated against them based on legally protected ​speech and violated their rights to due process.

Michael Velchik, a Justice Department ​lawyer, accused the news outlets of publishing classified information, and said they knew that doing so was illegal. He also said the government gave a sufficient explanation and opportunity to respond in letters sent to the ‌news outlets on ⁠Tuesday, though Kelly was skeptical of this argument.

Trump’s ban is the most dramatic of his recent clashes with the media, which he has accused of trying to hurt his fellow Republicans ahead of the November midterm elections in which the party is fighting to retain control of Congress.

In a filing on Tuesday, the ​Justice Department argued that access to the White ​House is a privilege, not an entitlement, ⁠and that the president has the power to suspend access by news organizations. It accused the outlets of threatening national security with their coverage, citing stories about US missile stockpiles, construction of Trump’s White House ballroom and turnout at the recent Republican midterm convention.