The White House has barred CNN from flying aboard Air Force One to cover US President Donald Trump’s upcoming trip, marking the latest escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and major American news organizations.
CNN was replaced by Real America’s Voice News, a conservative media outlet, for Trump’s planned trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he is scheduled to attend a college football game, according to White House guidance.
The decision comes amid an ongoing dispute between Trump and several major media organizations.
Last week, the White House announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico were banned from the White House grounds. The three organizations subsequently filed a lawsuit, arguing that the restrictions violated their First Amendment rights.
A US district judge, Timothy Kelly, later temporarily blocked the White House ban, ruling that the administration had not provided sufficient factual evidence to support its claim that the restrictions were necessary for national security.
However, the judge’s ruling specifically addressed access to the White House and did not directly refer to media pool duties or access to Air Force One.
The attorney representing CNN, MS NOW and Politico, Theodore Boutrous Jr, said the outlets believe the judge’s ruling also covers access to the presidential media pool.
The White House press pool consists of five major television networks — Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC — which rotate responsibility for recording and distributing presidential video coverage. The networks had previously declined to participate after CNN, MS NOW and Politico were barred.
CNN’s seat aboard Air Force One had traditionally been reserved for a representative of the US network video pool. However, Real America’s Voice News is not a member of that pool.
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