White House Bars CNN From Air Force One After Court Order

The White House replaced CNN with Real America's Voice on Trump's Tennessee trip, pushing the media-access fight onto Air Force One despite a court ruling.

On the evening of September 25, White House guidance signaled that CNN would be left off Air Force One for President Trump's trip the next day to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he planned to attend the University of Tennessee vs. University of Texas football game at Neyland Stadium. According to an Associated Press report published by the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University, the network's slot was instead given to Real America's Voice, a conservative network that is not part of the U.S. network video pool. The BBC reports that CNN had been scheduled to fly with the president and that its Friday-night media schedule simply omitted the broadcaster.

The move landed just after CNN, MS NOW and Politico had returned to the White House grounds with cameras in hand. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the administration's ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, though his decision addressed "hard passes" to the grounds and did not directly address pool duties or Air Force One access. That gap is what the White House appears to be exploiting: the outlets believe the ruling covers pool access, their attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. said on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper," but the flight manifest fight tests the boundary of the order in real time.

For part of Friday, the U.S. network video pool was back in operation for the first time since the ban, and CNN aired live video of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives — its first such footage in several days. "As of now, all systems are go," a person familiar with the pool told the Associated Press, speaking anonymously because of the fluid situation. The other four pool networks — ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC, per the BBC — had refused to participate in solidarity when CNN was barred, and NBC News reported that some CNN and MS NOW reporters were still turned away from state dinner arrivals despite the court order.

The press pool was created decades ago by the White House Correspondents' Association so a rotating roster always travels with the president, distributing reports and imagery to the broader press corps. The Air Force One seat long reserved for a pool member is now being filled by an outlet outside that rotation, a precedent that, if it stands, could let any administration sidestep the accountability mechanism entirely. The BBC reports Trump escalated online Saturday, writing "FAKE NEWS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE WHITE HOUSE," while a White House communications account insisted on X that the press does "not... get to have free rein into every part of the White House."

Throughout his second term, Trump has increasingly taken administrative or legal action against outlets whose coverage irritates him, the Associated Press reports. Early last year he banished AP reporters over the organization's handling of his "Gulf of America" executive order; the case is on appeal after a federal district judge ruled in AP's favor. More recently, the Justice Department defended the three-outlet ban in court by citing national security and calling White House access a "privilege," according to NBC News, and the administration launched its own streaming channel, Trump TV, ahead of the UN General Assembly, per the BBC.

The White House did not respond to an Associated Press email requesting details on the Air Force One decision, and CNN's attorney did not respond to AP requests for comment Friday night, so the next move likely runs through the courts. Because Judge Kelly's temporary order left pool duties and presidential travel untouched, news organizations are expected to seek a ruling that explicitly covers them; the outlets believe the current decision already does. A permanent resolution could also reshape the appeal in the underlying CNN, MS NOW and Politico lawsuit, while the pool's solidarity pause — and its brief restoration — shows how quickly routine coverage of a president can stall when access rules are contested.