Jim Acosta during fiery exchange with Trump
Jim Acosta during fiery exchange with TrumpReuters

A federal judge on Friday ordered the Trump administration to reinstate press credentials for CNN's White House correspondent Jim Acosta, at least temporarily.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly granted CNN’s request to restore the press pass for Acosta, giving him regular access to the White House grounds to cover events and press conferences, according to The Hill.

"I want to emphasize the very limited nature of this ruling," Kelly said Friday in granting the temporary restraining order in favor of CNN.

After the ruling the White House said it will abide by the judge's order, but insisted “there must be decorum at the White House.”

The White House revoked Acosta’s press credentials following his fiery exchange with Trump during a press conference last week.

Acosta questioned Trump about his characterization of a migrant caravan making its way to the US border from Mexico as “an invasion.”

Acosta continued to press Trump, despite Trump’s demand that he "put down the mic," before a White House official finally took the microphone away from him.

Trump then scolded Acosta, calling him a “rude, terrible person" and adding, “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you work for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN.”

Hours later, the White House announced that it had suspended Acosta's credentials due to the fact that Acosta become physical with a young female intern as he tried to ask Trump a question during the news conference.

CNN, in turn, filed a lawsuit against the White House on Tuesday morning, arguing that the revocation of Acosta’s press pass violates their First and Fifth Amendment rights.

Kelly did not rule on whether the administration violated CNN and Acosta’s First Amendment rights. Instead, he said Acosta and his employer have shown they are likely to succeed in their argument that their Fifth Amendment rights to due process were violated by the White House.

In a brief statement to the press outside the courthouse, Acosta thanked Kelly for his ruling.

“I want to thank all of my colleagues in the press who supported us this week and I want to thank the judge for the decision he made today,” he said. "Let’s go back to work."

Trump has been a vocal critic of much of the mainstream media, and particularly of CNN.

Shortly after Trump was elected president, he and Acosta got into a shouting match similar to that which occurred on Wednesday, when Acosta insisted on asking Trump a question after Trump dismissed a CNN report on Russian hackers having sensitive information about him.

Acosta kept insisting on asking his question, and Trump told him, “Don’t be rude”, before concluding with, “You are fake news.”

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)