Judge seems poised to reinforce block of Trump's White House media ban

President Donald Trump speaks to the news media, including CNN news anchor Kaitlin Collins.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images A federal judge appeared inclined to extend his block on Trump's ban on three media outlets from the White House.

The judge said on Thursday that one of the administration's arguments is contradicted by the president's own words.

"That's an uphill climb," the judge said of the DOJ's effort to defend the ban on national security grounds.

A federal judge appeared inclined to extend his block on President Donald Trump's ban on three media outlets from the White House.

The administration's argument that the ban was based on national security concerns is contradicted by the president's own words, US District Judge Timothy Kelly said during a hearing Thursday.

"That's an uphill climb," Kelly said of the Justice Department's effort to defend the ban on national security grounds, noting Trump's claim that his ban was based on his disapproval of the outlets' coverage.

Kelly is weighing whether to grant a lengthier block of Trump's move to ban POLITICO, CNN, and MS NOW from the White House.

The Trump-appointed judge already lifted the ban last month, issuing a two-week restraining order , which he extended through Tuesday, that enabled the three organizations to regain access to the West Wing.

But he now appears to be leaning toward a more durable injunction that would maintain the outlets' access during what could be months of litigation.

Kelly's original ruling found that the ban likely violated the news outlets' due process rights, since the White House restricted access without any notice and without setting out any identifiable standards for news organizations to follow to maintain their credentials.

"That's probably the biggest hurdle you all have," Kelly told the government during a hearing that drew a swath of media executives, reporters and First Amendment attorneys to the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., leading Kelly to remark on the vastly outnumbered Justice Department attorney assigned to the case.

In what has been a recurring theme in court battles across the country, Kelly pointed out that Trump's own comments — declaring repeatedly in interviews and on social media that he banned the outlets for writing "negative" stories about him — conflicted with the Justice Department's later efforts to claim the ban was a response to the outlets' publication of sensitive national security information.

A lawyer for the news organizations, Theodore Boutrous Jr., urged Kelly to reject Trump's ban for a second reason: a violation of news organizations' First Amendment rights and an effort to chill the free press.