The White House is barring CNN from Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to Tennessee, where CNN was scheduled to cover him for the rotating TV press pool. No replacement outlet was named, so the trip will have no television-pool coverage.
The prior week, Trump announced he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. A judge later blocked enforcement of the ban and ordered the administration to restore affected reporters’ credentials, but pool assignments remained unclear. Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS had declined pool duties while CNN was excluded; the pool resumed Friday with CNN covering Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the National Archives.
The TV pool shares video feeds and information with other news organizations when the wider press corps cannot attend presidential events. A judge gave the news organizations until Monday to request a preliminary injunction that would put Trump’s promised ban on hold for longer. CNN’s lawyer had said he believed restored access included pool duties, but the latest move’s effect on the litigation was unclear.
