Well, President Trump is the boss after all.
President Donald Trump’s administration has placed a new restriction on CNN, leaving the network off Air Force One for Trump’s Saturday trip to Tennessee as a larger battle over White House media access continues.
CNN had been scheduled to take its turn providing television pool coverage aboard Air Force One for the president’s trip to Knoxville. White House guidance issued Friday night instead listed conservative outlet Real America’s Voice News for the flight.
Trump traveled to Tennessee to attend the highly anticipated college football matchup between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas.
The latest move comes just days after CNN and two other news organizations won temporary relief in federal court over a separate White House access ban.
CNN Left Off Air Force One
CNN is part of the television network pool that traditionally rotates responsibility for recording and distributing video of the president when space is limited.
Under that arrangement, participating networks take turns covering presidential events and then make their footage available to other news organizations.
CNN was scheduled for Saturday’s Air Force One assignment.
Instead, the White House substituted Real America’s Voice News, an outlet that is not part of the traditional television network pool.
The development represents another escalation in the administration’s ongoing dispute with CNN and other national news organizations.
Court Recently Restored White House Access
The Air Force One decision came shortly after a federal judge temporarily restored White House access to CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Trump had previously barred the three organizations from White House grounds.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary order requiring the administration to restore their credentials while litigation over the restrictions continues.
Kelly found that the organizations were likely to succeed on their claim that their due-process rights had been violated. The temporary order covers a 14-day period while the broader legal fight proceeds.
The judge’s order specifically addressed access to the White House grounds and press credentials.
It did not explicitly settle the separate question of who must be included in Air Force One pool assignments.
That distinction is now receiving renewed attention.
News Organizations Challenge Trump Restrictions
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have argued in court that the administration improperly revoked their access because of disagreements over their reporting.
The Trump administration has defended its authority to regulate access to presidential facilities and events and has argued that its restrictions are lawful.
The dispute involves both First Amendment and due-process arguments, although the temporary court relief centered in significant part on the procedures used to revoke the organizations’ credentials.
The underlying case has not yet reached a final judgment.
CNN Returned to White House Before Latest Restriction
Following Kelly’s order, reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were eventually permitted to return to the White House complex Thursday.
CNN also resumed participation in television pool coverage.
During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington, CNN viewers once again saw pool footage of Trump after several days in which the normal television coverage system had been disrupted.
That apparent return to normal operations proved short-lived.
By Friday night, CNN was once again facing a new access dispute — this time involving Air Force One.
Other Networks Previously Stopped Pool Participation
The White House television pool relies on several major television organizations sharing presidential footage.
When CNN was initially excluded from the White House, other participating television networks declined to replace CNN during its scheduled pool assignments.
That disrupted the system used to provide video of presidential events to broadcasters across the country.
The controversy therefore extends beyond CNN itself.
At issue is the broader question of how much discretion a president and the White House have when deciding which journalists and news organizations receive access to limited presidential spaces.
Trump Has Long Clashed With CNN
Trump’s strained relationship with CNN stretches back years.
He has repeatedly criticized the network’s reporting and accused it of treating him and his administration unfairly.
CNN, meanwhile, has maintained that government officials cannot constitutionally retaliate against journalists because of unfavorable news coverage.
Those arguments are now being tested through litigation involving White House press access.
Legal experts interviewed by Reuters have noted that the government has substantial authority to manage limited-access presidential spaces, while also pointing to previous court decisions restricting the government’s ability to base credential decisions on a news organization’s viewpoint.
Air Force One Dispute Opens New Question
The latest controversy could turn on an important distinction.
Judge Kelly’s temporary order restored the organizations’ access to the White House grounds, but it did not specifically state that CNN must receive a particular seat aboard Air Force One.
Attorneys representing the news organizations have argued that the protections should extend to pool access as well.
For the moment, however, the administration’s decision means CNN was not part of Trump’s Air Force One television pool for Saturday’s Tennessee trip.
Real America’s Voice News took the network’s place.
Battle Over White House Media Access Continues
The confrontation is unlikely to end with one flight.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico continue to challenge the administration’s earlier restrictions in federal court, while the White House continues to defend its ability to determine access to the president.
The temporary court order does not represent a final ruling on every constitutional issue raised by the dispute.
For readers, the most important distinction is straightforward: CNN was allowed back onto White House grounds following the judge’s order, but the network was separately left off the Air Force One pool assignment for Trump’s September 26 trip.
Whether the courts eventually impose broader limits on the administration’s control over presidential press access remains unresolved.
