The White House indicated Friday nite that CNN would be barred from Air Force It was one of President Donald Trump’s Saturday outings, the latest media restriction from the administration in an ongoing battle with First Amendment ramifications.
The news agency was substituted with Real America’s Voice, a conservative network, according to White House advice for the president’s trip to Knoxville, Tennessee. Trump is expected to attend a college football game Saturday at noon between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas.
The announcement came immediately after journalists from CNN, as well as MS NOW and Politico, which Trump banned last week from the White House grounds, returned to the executive complex with TV cameras in hand after a judge awarded the companies a reprieve.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily threw down the prohibition in an overnight judgment early Thursday, but his order was specific to “hard passes” to the White House premises and did not directly touch pool duties.
The judge’s temporary injunction also did not say anything explicitly concerning Air Force One.
Court ruling encompasses the ‘pool,’ media organizations feel The news outlets' attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., did not immediately respond to an email and phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment Friday nite.
“The plaintiffs think that the recent court decision extends to pool access too,” Boutrous said earlier on Friday on “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
The White House did not immediately reply to an AP email seeking additional details on the decision.
For the first time since Trump barred the three news outlets in an unusual confrontation over media access, the U.S. network video pool for the White House was operational for a time throughout the day.
On CNN at midday, viewers could witness Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, along with Melania Trump and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan. A banner across the bottom of the screen read: “Trump and China’s Xi Visit National Archives.” It was a regular dispatch from a state visit, except CNN hadn’t broadcast live video of Trump in several days.
“All systems are go as of now,” said someone familiar with the pool, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the flux of the situation.
The pool is made up of five major U.S. broadcasters that rotate shooting and distributing video. The other four pool providers refused to join in a show of unity after CNN, part of the pool, was banned along with MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds.
The CNN slot for this trip had been booked a long time ago for a member of the U.S. network video pool, which Real America’s Voice is not a member of.
Earlier Friday, CNN declined to comment directly, instead referring to its editorial coverage. But CNN media analyst Brian Stelter tweeted that the network had a pool assignment at the National Archives event and that the credentials for the network had been approved by the White House.
In his second administration, Trump has aggressively gone after media outlets whose coverage has irritated him, taking administrative or legal action against numerous. Last year he barred AP reporters from White House events because the organization wasn’t complying with his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.” The AP’s policy says: “Note the new name when appropriate.”
