White House Blocks CNN From Air Force One Days After Judge Restored Its White House Access

The White House left CNN off Air Force One on Saturday for President Trump's trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, replacing it in the press pool rotation with Real America's Voice, a conservative outlet that has never been part of the network video pool, according to CNN and the Associated Press.

No network filled CNN's usual slot for TV pool coverage of the flight itself. A written pool report Saturday morning confirmed "no TV pool" covered the travel, per the AP. Real America's Voice correspondent Taylor Mitchell posted a video celebrating the outlet's inclusion: "CNN is not here; we have taken over that responsibility. We are so excited to be here."

The fight started September 18, when Trump revoked White House access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. He called them purveyors of "FAKE NEWS" in a Truth Social post at the time, according to Breitbart News. The three outlets sued, arguing the ban violated the First Amendment because it targeted them for the content of their coverage.

The court order

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly sided with the outlets early Thursday, ordering the administration to "immediately return, reinstate, and restore" their White House hard-pass access, according to the Epoch Times. But Kelly's order was narrow. It addressed grounds access, not pool duties, and said nothing about Air Force One, according to both PBS and the AP.

The White House television pool consists of five networks: CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS, that rotate responsibility for shooting and sharing footage of the president, per the Epoch Times. Historically, the networks themselves decide who's up for rotation, Politico has reported. The White House stepping in to override that rotation and insert an outlet outside the pool is a break from that norm, though it isn't clear the court order technically forbids it given what Kelly decided.

The Department of Justice, in a September 22 filing seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed, argued the ban was lawful and cited national security concerns. DOJ attorneys said the three outlets had "failed to maintain basic minimum standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including by publishing sensitive or classified information," according to the Epoch Times. The filing did not specify which stories or disclosures it was referring to, and no charges or formal findings back up that claim.

On the other side, the White House television pool put out a joint statement calling the original ban a threat to public information: "The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting," according to the Guardian. Theodore Boutrous Jr., the attorney representing CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, argued on "The Lead with Jake Tapper" Friday that the court's ruling should extend to pool access too. Boutrous did not respond to further requests for comment Friday evening or Saturday morning, per the AP.

Trump's Saturday

While the media fight played out, Trump made his third college football game appearance in two years, flying to Knoxville for the No. 1 Texas-No. 14 Tennessee matchup at Neyland Stadium, according to Fox News. Air Force One did a flyover of the 100,000-plus-seat stadium before kickoff, and Trump's motorcade arrived as the national anthem played, drawing cheers when he appeared on the jumbotron, per pool reports.

During halftime, with Texas leading 10-3, Trump sat down with Clay Travis of Sport & State, telling him "it looks like a pretty good game so far" and predicting the House would pass the Protect College Sports Act when it returns to session, according to the Daily Wire.

Earlier Saturday, Trump posted on Truth Social: "FAKE NEWS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!! IT HAS GONE ON FAR TOO LONG, AT A TREMENDOUS COST TO OUR COUNTRY." A separate post cited a Reuters/Ipsos poll putting his approval at 32%, an all-time low for his second term, and complained that "almost 100% of 'TRUMP' coverage is negative," according to the Guardian.

Kelly's order was temporary, and the underlying lawsuit over the original White House ban is still pending. Whether that litigation ultimately extends to cover pool assignments and Air Force One seating remains unresolved. For now, the White House has shown it will keep exercising discretion over who flies with the president, court order or not.