On Friday evening, the White House announced that CNN would not be on Air Force One for President Trump’s trip the next day. This decision is part of ongoing media restrictions by the administration in a dispute with First Amendment implications.
Instead of CNN, Real America’s Voice News, a conservative outlet, was chosen to cover the trip. Just before this news broke, journalists from three news organizations that Trump had recently banned were allowed back into the White House with their equipment.
Earlier that day, the U.S. network video pool for the White House resumed operation after being shut down since Trump banned three outlets in a conflict over media access. The pool system allows five major networks to share coverage. However, when the White House banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, the other four networks refused to participate as a show of support.
A judge had temporarily overturned the ban earlier in the week but did not address the pool directly. Despite this, CNN was still excluded from the pool. The network did not comment directly on Friday but noted its editorial coverage. Brian Stelter, CNN’s media analyst, mentioned on X that CNN had been approved for credentials to cover an event at the National Archives involving Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.