USA27 September, 20263 min read
Todd Blanche Defends Trump’s CNN Air Force One Ban, Citing National Security
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Blanche defended the White House ban on CNN citing national security concerns. He said presidential access is a privilege, not a guaranteed right.
Press ban and court fight
Attorney General Todd Blanche defended President Donald Trump’s decision to bar CNN from flying aboard Air Force One, telling Martha Raddatz on ABC News’ “This Week” that “The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane, and it is national security, especially on Air Force One, and especially at the White House.”
“It is a privilege, not a right, to be there.”
Blanche also argued that White House access is “a privilege, not a right,” while the dispute remains tied to a federal judge’s temporary restraining order restoring press credentials while litigation continues.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order that required the White House to restore the journalists’ credentials, and Kelly questioned the administration’s national security argument.
Blanche said the administration’s position is that “the complete misinformation and the inaccuracy and the one-sided news out of certain organizations does become a national security issue,” while he declined to identify specific examples of inaccurate reports when pressed.
CNN said it was blocked from boarding Air Force One for Trump’s Saturday trip to attend the top-ranked Texas Longhorns’ college football game at Tennessee in Knoxville, preventing the network from fulfilling its TV pool coverage responsibilities.
Blanche clashes with Raddatz
On ABC’s “This Week,” Martha Raddatz pressed Blanche after she said the judge was skeptical of the Justice Department’s national security rationale, and Blanche responded that he would not get into what the judge said because “that litigation’s ongoing.” Blanche escalated the exchange when Raddatz asked for an example, exclaiming, “I’m sorry, wait, give you an example of when CNN doesn’t report accurately?!” Blanche then argued that “There’s not even a real dispute that the information coming out of CNN and some of these other networks is wholly and completely, almost 100% negative toward the president,” while Raddatz replied that “The judge decided this was not based on national security.”
Blanche also told Raddatz that he would not debate the judge’s findings while the case remained active, and he said the administration’s position is that misinformation becomes a national security issue. Raddatz challenged Blanche’s framing by pointing to Trump’s earlier justification for the restrictions, and Blanche refused to directly address the judge’s criticism during the interview.
Air Force One pool
The White House television pool cameras picked up coverage of Trump Sunday, with a Fox News crew following the president on his visit to a golf tournament outside Chicago. Blanche said the president has “every right” to decide who flies on Air Force One, and he argued that the administration routinely chooses which journalists can board the presidential aircraft. The Economic Times described a separate dispute on Saturday, saying CNN was scheduled to provide shared television coverage of Trump’s trip to a college football game in Tennessee, but the White House blocked it from travelling on Air Force One.
“The White House television pool cameras picked up coverage of Trump Sunday, with a Fox News crew following the president on his visit to a golf tournament outside Chicago.”
The Economic Times reported that Real America’s Voice took CNN’s place, and it said no network TV pool travelled with Trump that day. Blanche said he would not screen reporters before joining the press pool on Air Force One, while he maintained that reporting about the president “doesn’t have to be good” or all positive.