USA · updated 57m ago · 2 min read
White House Bars CNN From Air Force One Press Pool for Trump’s Knoxville Trip
CNN barred from Air Force One for Trump's Tennessee trip; replaced by Real America's Voice. CNN excluded from the White House TV press pool for Trump trip, replaced by RAV.
Whether the pool disruption or flight ban is foregrounded.
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The Hill frames the move as disrupting the TV pool system. Al Jazeera frames it as barring CNN’s flight access.
Air Force One Exclusion
The White House barred CNN from flying aboard Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, for a college football game, and it replaced CNN with Real America’s Voice News for the president’s travel. White House guidance said the CNN spot was removed from the television press pool schedule for September 26, and the schedule did not list another outlet as a replacement, leaving no television pool coverage of the trip.
CNN said its reporters were set to board Air Force One Saturday to cover Trump’s visit to Knoxville as part of the press pool, but the White House announced Friday that CNN would no longer fill that role. The dispute followed Trump’s earlier announcement that he banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds, and it continued after a judge temporarily struck down that ban while addressing “hard passes” to the White House grounds rather than pool duties.
Court Fight and Pool Duties
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the White House ban in an overnight ruling early on Thursday, and Kelly said the government’s argument lacked “factual support” for the claim that the outlets were barred to protect national security.
Kelly’s decision addressed press passes to the White House and did not directly mention pool duties or Air Force One, and Theodore Boutrous Jr. told Jake Tapper that the plaintiffs believed the ruling also covered pool access.
CNN’s exclusion from Air Force One meant the press pool could not function for the trip, and Jacqui Heinrich said, “That’s the system that allows the networks to share video of the president with the whole country. If they aren’t there, the pool can’t function.”
The White House press pool consists of five major broadcast outlets that take turns shooting and sharing video, and the other four providers declined to participate in the pool until access was restored after CNN was barred from White House grounds.
What Happens Next
CNN said its reporters were barred from joining the press pool traveling with Trump this weekend, and CNN indicated that it planned to travel aboard the president’s plane on his trip to Tennessee for a college football game as part of the White House television press pool. The White House memo outlining Trump’s schedule did not list another outlet replacing CNN, and the move meant there would be no joint television coverage of the trip to Tennessee.
The dispute also continued after the White House barred CNN from boarding Air Force One for Saturday’s trip, even as the White House had previously been ordered to restore press credentials for CNN, MS/NOW and Politico under a court order. The litigation remained active as a judge gave the news organizations until Monday to file a request for a preliminary injunction, and the press corps sought full access to presidential coverage while the pool system remained central to how audiences received video of Trump’s speeches and public appearances.