White House TV pool resumes, but CNN faces flight restriction

The five major US television networks resumed shared coverage of President Donald Trump on Friday, 25 September, but the White House later signalled that CNN would be excluded from Air Force One for his planned trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, the following day. [8] [10]

Associated Press reported, citing White House guidance, that conservative network Real America’s Voice News had been allocated CNN’s place. It is not a member of the five-network television pool, which normally fills that slot. [10]

The renewed restriction followed a day in which shared coverage had restarted. CBS provided pool coverage of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s arrival at the White House on Friday morning, while CNN supplied the pool camera for Trump and Xi’s lunchtime visit to the National Archives, The New York Times reported. [8]

ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC had suspended the service on 21 September after CNN was prevented from carrying out its scheduled assignment. The networks rotate responsibility for recording and distributing video and audio, including at events where there is too little space for separate crews. The suspension affected that shared service, not all reporting on Trump. [6]

What the court ordered

Trump announced a White House ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico on 18 September. On 24 September, US District Judge Timothy J. Kelly ordered officials to restore the organisations’ revoked White House press credentials, finding that their removal likely violated constitutional due-process rights. The temporary restraining order was issued for 14 days. [1]

Journalists from the three organisations regained access to the White House grounds around noon that day, TheWrap reported. [7]

The administration had defended the revocations on national-security grounds and argued that the outlets had received adequate notice and an opportunity to challenge the decision. Kelly found that the court record lacked factual support for the argument that revoking the passes would protect national security, or that restoring them during the litigation would endanger it.