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The White House has barred CNN from travelling aboard Air Force One with United States President Donald Trump for his Saturday trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, despite the network being scheduled to serve as the television press pool reporter.
The latest restriction comes days after Trump’s administration banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, accusing the organisations of publishing coverage that was unfavourable to his administration.
A federal judge, Timothy Kelly, subsequently ordered the administration to restore the three outlets’ access to the White House, ruling that they were likely to succeed in showing that their press credentials had been revoked without adequate due process.
CNN reporters returned to the White House on Thursday following the ruling, although the network and MS NOW later reported being denied access to parts of an event marking Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit.
Despite the restoration of access, CNN was excluded from Trump’s trip to Tennessee, where the President is scheduled to attend a college football game.
CNN had been due to take its turn in the rotating television press pool, a system involving ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News and CNN. The designated network provides video coverage of presidential events and distributes the footage to other television outlets because of limited space during presidential travel.
However, a White House schedule released late Friday did not list CNN or another member of the traditional television pool as the primary TV pooler for Saturday.
Instead, the schedule listed Real America’s Voice News, a conservative outlet, in a secondary television role. The Washington Post reported that the White House decision effectively prevented CNN from carrying out the pool duties it had been assigned for the trip.
The dispute has already disrupted the White House television pool. After CNN was barred from the White House last week, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC joined CNN in suspending pooled video coverage in protest.
The five networks said the public had an important interest in receiving independent information about the government and argued that news organisations should not be denied access because of disagreements over their reporting.
The television pool resumed on Friday after CNN’s White House access was restored. CBS served as the designated pool network for most of the day, while CNN handled coverage of an event at the National Archives.
The latest exclusion, however, has raised fresh questions about the future of the rotational pool and the administration’s approach to media access during presidential travel.
CNN confirmed its exclusion from the Tennessee trip, while the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.