President Donald Trump has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House for a high-stakes state visit, praising a "truly great friendship" between the two leaders even as a dispute over domestic press access overshadowed the opening ceremonies.

Writers and photographers from Chinese state-run media were permitted to cover Xi's formal arrival on the South Lawn, where Chinese reporters were involved in a scrum after pushing past American journalists. However, reporters from CNN, Politico and MS NOW were initially left outside, despite a federal court order instructing the administration to restore their credentials.

We previously reported that passes had been restored early on Thursday morning ahead of the diplomatic events. In fact, the White House did not comply with the ruling until after Xi's arrival had concluded, though credentials were subsequently restored later in the day, according to reports from UK news outlets including The Guardian and Deadline.

The formal talks—Xi's first state visit to the United States in a decade—covered trade disputes, the war in Iran, and the regulation of artificial intelligence. Ahead of the meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social that "Super Intelligence" would be discussed, adding that neither country was eager to impose strict tech safeguards. For his part, Xi warned against falling into the "Thucydides trap" of great-power conflict, stating that bilateral competition "should be kept within bounds". Xi also announced China would invite 100,000 American students on exchange visits over the next five years and send two giant pandas to the zoo in Atlanta.

The diplomatic proceedings took place against the backdrop of an active domestic legal battle. Federal Judge Timothy Kelly ruled overnight that the administration's ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW must be temporarily lifted for 14 days, finding that the measure "likely violated their constitutional due process rights".

The dispute began last Friday when President Trump announced he was barring the three organisations, accusing them of producing "fake news" and reporting "fiction or lies". By Saturday morning, their passes had been confiscated.

In subsequent legal filings, the US Department of Justice defended the ban on national security grounds, pointing to previous reporting on missile stockpiles, White House ballroom construction and the Republican midterm convention. Judge Kelly rejected that reasoning, observing that the president had made no mention of national security when the ban was announced.

More than 50 media organisations, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, submitted an amicus brief challenging the ban. In a joint statement, CNN, Politico and MS NOW said their legal challenge sought to "defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports". Several major networks—including Fox News, NBC, CBS and ABC—had previously boycotted full pool coverage in solidarity.

Efforts to restrict media access have historical precedent. In 2009, the Obama administration sought to exclude Fox News from a pool interview with an administration official, reversing course only after the other four television networks in the pool objected.

Judge Kelly's order remains in place for two weeks while the underlying legal action proceeds, and it remains to be seen how broadcast networks will approach pooled coverage in the days ahead. I will continue to follow developments closely.