Washington DC - The Department of Justice said Wednesday it will appeal a federal judge's decision to block President Donald Trump's ban on CNN, MS NOW, and Politico journalists accessing the White House.

Trump barred the three major US news outlets last month for distributing what he called "fake news" – prompting them to file a joint lawsuit claiming the move violates free speech protections.

District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration must restore the journalists' access while the lawsuit proceeds. The Department of Justice said in a court filing that it would appeal that decision.

Kelly said the outlets were "likely to succeed not only on their due process claim, but also on their two First Amendment claims."

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The First Amendment upholds the right to a free press.

"President Trump likely banned Plaintiffs from the White House because he believes that their reporting is generally inaccurate and biased against him," Kelly wrote.

His ruling came as a court order that had temporarily restored the White House credentials of the journalists was set to expire Tuesday.

Trump has long attacked media that have aired critical coverage of him, repeatedly blasting the press as the "enemy of the people."

Last week, the DOJ launched an investigation into five media outlets that temporarily boycotted coverage of the White House in solidarity with CNN, MS NOW, and Politico.