The White House has excluded CNN from travelling with US President Donald Trump aboard Air Force One for his Saturday, September 26, 2026, trip to Tennessee, extending a dispute over press access that has already reached federal court.
CNN had been scheduled to participate in the White House television press pool covering Trump’s trip to Knoxville, where the president is due to attend a college football game. The network’s removal from the assignment came just two days after a federal judge ordered the administration to temporarily restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists.
The latest restriction affects not only CNN’s own coverage but also the traditional television pool system, under which one network travels with the president when space is limited and shares footage with other major broadcasters.
CNN was listed to cover Trump’s Tennessee trip as part of the rotating television pool, according to reporting on the White House travel arrangements.
However, guidance circulated by the White House on Friday night did not include CNN in the television assignment. Reuters reported that the administration had blocked CNN from travelling aboard Air Force One for the trip, citing people familiar with the decision.
CNN’s planned assignment was significant because the television pool serves several major broadcasters rather than only the network whose journalists are physically travelling with the president.
The system allows participating networks to share:
- Video from presidential events;
- Audio and remarks from the president;
- Images from locations where space is restricted; and
- Reporting gathered during presidential travel.
CNN’s exclusion therefore has implications beyond the network’s individual access to Trump’s trip.
The decision followed a broader confrontation between Trump’s administration and CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
On September 18, Trump announced that the three outlets would be barred from the White House, accusing them of persistently negative coverage. Journalists from the organisations were subsequently denied entry to the White House complex and, in some cases, had their press credentials confiscated.
The three organisations challenged the restrictions in federal court, arguing that the administration had violated constitutional protections.
On September 24, US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to restore the journalists’ credentials for 14 days while the litigation continues. Kelly found that the outlets were likely to succeed on their claim that the revocation of their credentials violated due-process protections under the Fifth Amendment.
The journalists were eventually allowed back into the White House later that day after initially being turned away.
The latest CNN decision highlights a distinction between access to the White House grounds and participation in the presidential travel pool.
Although the court ordered the restoration of the journalists’ White House credentials, CNN’s assignment aboard Air Force One for the Tennessee trip was a separate issue involving the administration’s organisation of presidential travel.
Reports indicated that CNN had been scheduled to provide pooled television coverage but was subsequently removed from the assignment. CNN said no replacement television outlet was identified in the White House guidance, raising the possibility that the trip would proceed without the normal television pool coverage.
The dispute has therefore moved beyond the question of whether individual journalists can enter the White House to include how media organisations receive access to presidential travel and pooled coverage.
The television press pool exists largely because journalists cannot all accompany the president during travel. A small group rotates responsibility for covering events and distributes the resulting material to other networks.
The system means an outlet assigned to the pool effectively gathers material on behalf of multiple broadcasters.
The current dispute has disrupted that arrangement. Earlier in the week, major television networks suspended portions of their pooled coverage after CNN, MS NOW and Politico were excluded from White House operations.
The disruption became particularly visible during Trump’s recent activities, when the absence of normal pooled coverage affected the availability of television footage and audio from presidential events.
The latest Tennessee trip could provide another test of whether the traditional pool arrangement will resume while the court case continues.
The September 24 court order does not represent a final resolution of the dispute between the administration and the three media organisations.
Judge Kelly’s temporary restraining order lasts for 14 days. The news organisations are pursuing a broader legal challenge, including claims under the First Amendment concerning press freedom and the Fifth Amendment concerning due process.
The White House has defended Trump’s authority to control access to the presidential workplace and has argued that the administration acted in response to what it considers problematic reporting.
The court, however, has so far focused on whether the journalists’ credentials were revoked without adequate procedural protections. The judge’s September 24 ruling did not finally determine the broader First Amendment claims.
The legal dispute is expected to continue as the temporary order approaches its expiration.
For CNN, the immediate issue is whether it will regain its role in the rotating television press pool while the litigation proceeds. For the White House, the Tennessee trip adds another point of contention over how presidential media access should operate after the court ordered the restoration of journalists’ credentials.
The outcome could affect not only CNN, MS NOW and Politico but also the wider system through which US television networks jointly cover presidential activities.
