The Trump administration stood down Monday from its nearly two-week-long dispute with CNN over the White House credentials of Acosta, informing the correspondent that his badge was formally restored. CNN in turn dropped its lawsuit on the matter, which had ballooned into a test of press freedoms in the Trump era.

But while it yielded to Acosta — whose testy questions had touched off President Donald Trump’s ire — the administration used the occasion to lay down a set of formal rules governing reporters’ behavior at future White House news conferences, a highly unusual step.

Among the guidelines was a restriction of one question per reporter, with follow-ups allowed at the discretion of the president or the White House official at the lectern. “Failure to abide,” the administration warned, “may result in suspension or revocation of the journalist’s hard pass.”

Codifying the behavior of journalists struck some as an encroachment into freedom of the press, and the White House Correspondents’ Association said Monday that it had not been consulted about the new guidelines.

The American Civil Liberties Union, in a statement, said: “These rules give the White House far too much discretion to avoid real scrutiny. The White House belongs to the public, not the president, and the job of the press is to ask hard questions, not to be polite company.”

Still, the guidelines are not far removed from the manner in which White House news conferences typically proceed.

Trump, a devoted news consumer who relishes his coverage, plays up his conflicts with reporters in part to excite his supporters. He has held far fewer formal news conferences than his predecessors, and the daily White House briefing has virtually disappeared on his watch.

After suing last week, Acosta was granted the temporary return of his credentials by a federal judge.

A back-and-forth ensued over the weekend. Bill Shine, the deputy chief of staff for communications, sent a letter to Acosta that listed several reasons his pass had been revoked. CNN’s lawyers called the note an “after-the-fact concocted process.” By Monday afternoon, the sides had reached a resolution.

The New York Times

Michael M. Grynbaum © 2018 The New York Times