CNN, MS NOW and Politico are suing US president Donald Trump and officials in his administration for banning their reporters from the White House.

Trump announced that he was banning the news outlets on Friday, accusing them – without specifics – of reporting “fiction and lies.”

He did not say what had prompted the ban, but added that “media Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.”

In a joint statement today, CNN, MS NOW and Politico said they were filing the lawsuit “to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes”. 

“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” they said.

The joint lawsuit states:

This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.

It says that presidents “from the earliest days of the Republic” have disagreed with and complained about the press coverage of their administrations. 

But that in this instance, Trump announced that the ban “is a punishment for the content of past news coverage” from CNN, MS NOW and Politico.

It states that Trump’s statements “make clear he implemented the ban to coerce more favorable coverage of the administration from CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO, and to deter other journalists and news organizations from reportingthat the President might view as unfavorable”. 

The lawsuit goes on to say that the ban was implemented immediately, meaning that their journalists “are simply not permitted anywhere on the grounds of the White House complex”. 

It says their credentials – or passes – that they use to ask questions of Trump and administration officials, and videotape and photograph White House activities “were apparently deactivated overnight” and seized the following morning.

The lawsuit also states that the actions of the Trump administration means the outlets “have suffered and continue to suffer irreparable harm”.

“The ban constitutes viewpoint discrimination against Plaintiffs in a non-public forum in violation of the First Amendment and should be enjoined and declared unlawful,” it states.

The news outlets asked that the judge declare that the ban violates the First and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution and to block it.

They also asked that the press credentials and access of the affected journalists to the White House be restored.

It is extremely rare for US presidents to bar news outlets from the White House altogether, although Trump banned a CNN reporter in his first term and Richard Nixon put restrictions on the Washington Post for its reporting on the Watergate scandal.

But Trump’s second administration has put stricter controls on reporters, including taking control of which journalists can cover events as part of the “pool” admitted to tight spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One.

The 80-year-old Republican leader, who has long had a fiery relationship with the mainstream media, also warned on Friday that other outlets could face a similar fate but did not say which ones.

CNN had been scheduled to serve as the White House TV pool today, a rotating assignment in which a broadcaster films on behalf of all television outlets for the day.

Updated guidance from the White House late Sunday simply listed a back-up crew.