White House excludes CNN from Air Force One pool for Tennessee trip

The White House left CNN off Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s trip Saturday to a college football game in Tennessee, marking the latest media restriction from the administration in an ongoing dispute with First Amendment implications.

CNN, a member of the U.S. network video pool that rotates duties shooting and sharing video coverage of the president, reported it had been scheduled to fly aboard the president’s plane Saturday for a scheduled visit to a midday game between the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the University of Texas. But White House guidance issued Friday night instead included Real America’s Voice, a conservative outlet.

The White House guidance was issued after journalists from CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico, which Trump banned last week from the White House grounds, returned to the executive complex with TV cameras in hand after a judge handed the organizations a reprieve.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, but his decision dealt with “hard passes” to the White House grounds and didn’t directly address pool duties.

The judge’s temporary order also said nothing directly about Air Force One.

The spot meant for CNN on the flight has long been saved for a member of the U.S. network video pool; Real America’s Voice is not a part of that group. The White House did not respond to emails from The Associated Press requesting comment about the decision.

CNN declined to comment.

A pool report Saturday morning confirmed there was “no TV pool” for Saturday's trip.

On Saturday morning, the president addressed the broader debate in a post on social media, 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 organizations believe the court decision covers the ‘pool’

Theodore Boutrous Jr., an attorney for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, did not immediately respond to an email or phone call requesting comment Friday night. Earlier Friday, on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Boutrous had said the plaintiffs believe the recent court ruling also covers the issue of pool access.

For a while Friday, the U.S. network video pool for the White House was back in operation for the first time since Trump banned the three news outlets in an extraordinary showdown over media access.

At noon on CNN, viewers could see Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, along with Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, Xi's wife. The banner along the bottom of the screen read: “Trump and China’s Xi Visit National Archives.” It was a routine report from a state visit — except that CNN had not aired live video of Trump in several days.

“As of now, all systems are go,” said a person familiar with the pool, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluidity of the situation.

Pool participants showed solidarity this week

The TV pool consists of five major U.S. broadcast outlets. When the White House banned CNN from the White House grounds, along with MS NOW and Politico, the other four pool providers declined to participate in a show of solidarity.

CNN did not comment directly earlier Friday, referring instead to its editorial coverage. It did the same Saturday. But Brian Stelter, the network’s media analyst, posted on X Friday that CNN had a pool assignment at the National Archives event and that the White House had approved the network’s credentials.

Throughout his second term, Trump has increasingly targeted media outlets whose coverage irritates him, taking administrative or legal action against several. Early last year, he banished AP reporters from White House events because the organization wasn’t abiding by his executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” The AP’s guidance says to acknowledge the new name when relevant.

The case is on appeal after a federal district judge ruled in AP’s favor.

The press pool was created decades ago by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a group of journalists who cover the president, to make sure a rotating roster always travels with the president. The pool distributes in-person reports and imagery to the broader press corps and is designed to hold the nation’s chief executive accountable on behalf of the American public.

The association did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.