The White House has banned CNN journalists from being on board the presidential plane during Donald Trump's planned visit to Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday, September 26. This was reported by The Washington Post, citing its sources.
Trump is scheduled to visit Knoxville to attend a college football game. According to the publication, the decision for CNN threatens the work of the rotating television pool, which provides general video coverage of presidential events, which was restored a day earlier.
The dispute began with a ban on access to the White House
On September 18, Trump announced that he was revoking access to the White House for journalists from CNN and MS NOW, as well as the newspaper Politico. The president accused the media of spreading “fake news“ and said that the list of restricted media could be expanded.
The next day, correspondents and technical teams from the three media outlets were not allowed into the White House complex. Later, a federal judge in the District of Columbia temporarily blocked the ban and ordered that access be restored for 14 days while the case continues.
In the decision, the judge rejected the argument that the ban was dictated by national security considerations. According to the court's assessment, the reason for Trump's public statements was related to his dissatisfaction with the way the media was covering his administration.
The television pool was suspended
The White House television pool includes CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News. The networks take turns in the responsibility of filming and distributing footage from events to which access to all journalists is restricted.
Following the ban on CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC temporarily refused to fulfill their duties in the pool. This led to a lack of television coverage of some of the events surrounding the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington.
Access to the White House grounds for CNN, MS NOW and Politico was restored after the court intervention. Initially, however, journalists from the three media outlets were again stopped by the Secret Service, and CNN did not immediately receive confirmation that it would be able to perform its full duties in the television pool.
The pool resumed work on Friday, September 25. However, the new travel restriction to Tennessee may again call into question whether CNN will have an equal share in covering the presidential visit and whether other television networks will accept to work under these conditions.
Sources: The Washington Post, Axios