The White House barred CNN from traveling aboard Air Force One with President Donald Trump on Saturday, giving the spot instead to two Trump-friendly outlets, LindellTV and Real America’s Voice.
CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene revealed the development Friday evening on “Anderson Cooper 360°,” shortly after the White House released its daily guidance for the president’s planned trip to Knoxville, Tennessee.
Saturday had been CNN’s scheduled turn in the pool rotation. That meant the network’s crew was set to travel with Trump and provide footage of the president to the other major television networks.
Instead, the White House guidance named LindellTV, which was founded by Trump ally Mike Lindell, and Real America’s Voice as the secondary pool outlets for the trip.
“The White House is now preventing CNN from carrying out their TV duties,” Treene said.
An escalating fight over access
The move marks the latest chapter in a growing clash between the Trump administration and several news organizations over access to the White House.
Last week, Trump announced he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House. The president accused the outlets of spreading “FICTION and LIES” and warned that other news organizations could face the same treatment.
The three outlets responded by filing a lawsuit. Early Thursday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a 14-day temporary restraining order directing the administration to restore their access.
The White House initially kept blocking the outlets from entering the grounds before eventually backing down.
State dinner dispute
Just hours later, however, CNN and MS NOW said they had been barred from covering guest arrivals for Trump’s state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping, even though their White House access had been restored.
The administration defended the decision, arguing the dinner was a “pre-credentialed event.” Officials added that restored access did not grant the networks “free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call.”
Pool coverage in question
At first, the five television networks that make up the White House press pool banded together to effectively suspend pool coverage in response to the ban.
But Treene said Friday that the future of that arrangement remains uncertain.
“It’s unclear what’s going to happen to it now,” she said.
Treene also pointed to comments from the attorney representing the three outlets in their legal battle with the administration.
“We did hear our outside lawyer representing CNN, Politico, and MS NOW say earlier today that he believed the restoration of the outlet’s access included the White House pool, but clearly this White House is keeping us from doing so,” she said.
Treene went on to argue that the network is being targeted by the administration.
“We know that they are definitely singling us out here,” she said.
With Saturday’s trip to Knoxville, the pool duties originally assigned to CNN will now be handled by LindellTV and Real America’s Voice, according to the White House guidance.
