White House bars CNN from Air Force One amid press feud

The White House prevented CNN from boarding Air Force One on Saturday, disrupting the network's press pool duties amid an escalating dispute with the news media. CNN said it had been scheduled to travel with President Donald Trump to Tennessee for a college football game. The exclusion was confirmed when CNN was left off guidance sent to the press corps about Saturday's schedule.

The Washington Post first reported CNN's exclusion. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A week of tension

The incident comes a week after Trump, a frequent critic of what he calls "fake news," revoked White House access for CNN, MS Now and Politico over reporting he considered unfavorable. Writing on Truth Social, Trump said media outlets should not be allowed to report "fiction and lies," and warned that similar measures could target other outlets.

The decision drew sharp criticism from the White House press pool, whose members suspended video coverage of Trump in protest. The pool is a rotating group of journalists responsible for covering presidential travel and sharing reports with outlets not present at a given event. Since the start of Trump's second term in 2025, the White House itself has decided which outlets join the pool each day.

CNN, MS Now and Politico subsequently filed a lawsuit arguing the ban violated the first amendment. The Department of Justice countered that the restriction was justified on national security grounds, citing reports involving "sensitive" and "classified" information.

US district judge Timothy Kelly ruled in favor of the news outlets, ordering the administration to restore their access. On Thursday, journalists from the affected outlets were only allowed into the White House after a delay of several hours. Later that day, CNN's editorial team and an MS Now reporter were barred from covering a state dinner held for Chinese president Xi Jinping.