The White House has excluded CNN from the media pool aboard Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s trip to Tennessee, in the latest dispute between the administration and news organisations over access to the President. CNN said it had been scheduled to travel on the Presidential aircraft on Saturday for Trump’s visit to a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas in Knoxville.
But White House guidance issued on Friday night named conservative outlet Real America’s Voice instead.
CNN is part of the US network video pool, a rotating group of broadcasters responsible for filming and distributing video of the President to other media organisations. Real America’s Voice is not a member of the pool.
A pool report on Saturday morning confirmed there was “no TV pool” for the trip.
The decision came days after journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to the White House complex with television cameras following a court ruling that temporarily blocked the administration’s ban on the three organisations.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued the temporary order early on Thursday. His ruling concerned “hard passes” granting access to the White House grounds, but did not directly address pool assignments or access to Air Force One.
On Saturday morning, Trump addressed the wider dispute in a social media post, writing: “FAKE NEWS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!! IT HAS GONE ON FAR TOO LONG, AT A TREMENDOUS COST TO OUR COUNTRY.”
Media Groups Say Ruling Covers Pool Access
Theodore Boutrous Jr, a lawyer representing CNN, MS NOW and Politico, had said on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper on Friday that the organisations believed Judge Kelly’s ruling also covered access to the media pool.
For a period on Friday, the US network video pool resumed operations for the first time since Trump barred the three outlets from the White House.
CNN was able to show live video of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping visiting the National Archives, alongside Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, Xi’s wife.
Brian Stelter, CNN’s media analyst, said on X on Friday that the network had been assigned to the pool for the National Archives event and that the White House had approved its credentials.
A person familiar with the pool, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the changing situation, said on Friday: “As of now, all systems are go.”
Pool Outlets Act Together
The White House television pool consists of five major US broadcasters. After CNN, MS NOW and Politico were barred from the White House grounds, the other four pool providers declined to take part in a show of solidarity.
The pool was established decades ago by the White House Correspondents’ Association. It ensures that a rotating group of journalists travels with the President and shares reports and images with the wider press corps.
The system is intended to provide access to the President and help hold the administration accountable on behalf of the public.
Trump’s administration has increasingly restricted access for media organisations whose coverage he has criticised during his second term.
Last year, he barred Associated Press reporters from White House events after the organisation did not follow an executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America”.