The White House has barred CNN journalists from travelling with US President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One for his scheduled trip to Tennessee on Saturday, in the latest escalation of a dispute between the Trump administration and several major American news organisations.
CNN had been scheduled to serve as the television network in the White House press pool for Trump’s trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, where the president is expected to attend a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas.
However, the White House’s schedule released on Friday evening did not list CNN or another member of the usual television pool for the assignment. The development was first reported by The Washington Post and subsequently confirmed by other media organisations.
The White House decision came only a day after CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists regained access to the White House complex following a federal court ruling.
US District Judge Timothy Kelly had ordered the Trump administration to restore the press credentials of journalists from the three organisations after they were barred from the White House grounds. The judge’s order temporarily restored their access while the legal dispute continues.
The three news organisations had been excluded after Trump announced restrictions against them, accusing the outlets of negative or false coverage. The outlets rejected the administration’s position and challenged the restrictions in court, raising First Amendment concerns about press freedom and government access to journalists.
The latest decision concerns a different aspect of press access: the presidential television pool.
Because space aboard Air Force One and at certain presidential events is limited, major television networks operate a rotating pool in which one network provides video coverage that is shared with the other participating broadcasters. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News have traditionally shared the responsibility and costs of covering the president.
CNN was scheduled to perform that pool duty for Trump’s Tennessee trip. According to reports, the network was instead replaced by Real America’s Voice News, a conservative television outlet.
The dispute has already disrupted the normal operation of the television pool. Earlier in the week, the pool stopped providing coverage of some presidential events after CNN was prevented from carrying out its assigned duties. The interruption meant that major events involving Trump went without the customary pooled television footage.
The television pool resumed operations on Friday after CNN, MS NOW and Politico regained access to the White House. CBS handled the pool coverage of Trump’s White House events involving Chinese President Xi Jinping, while CNN served as the designated pool camera at the National Archives during Trump’s meeting with Xi.
The decision to exclude CNN from Saturday’s Air Force One trip therefore comes shortly after the system had resumed, raising fresh questions about whether the rotational pool can operate normally while the broader dispute over media access remains unresolved.
CNN had been expected to provide footage not only for its own broadcasts but also for other television networks through the pool arrangement. The White House has not publicly provided a detailed explanation for why CNN was excluded from the Tennessee assignment. Reuters reported that the White House had not immediately responded to requests for comment on the decision.
The dispute is being closely watched because access to the president is an important part of the American news media’s ability to report on presidential activities. The legal case involving CNN, MS NOW and Politico is also examining the constitutional issues surrounding the administration’s restrictions.
For now, the latest development leaves the relationship between the Trump administration and several major news organisations unsettled, with questions remaining over how presidential press access and the television pool will operate while the court proceedings continue.
