Trump defies court order, blocks CNN from Air Force One to Knoxville

New Delhi: The US president, Donald Trump, has decided that CNN will not travel with him on Air Force One for his Saturday trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, despite a US federal judge’s order restoring the network’s access to the White House. CNN’s exclusion from the presidential aircraft comes a day after the network resumed its duties in the rotating television pool that covers Trump’s public events.

Fox News, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News make up the five-network television pool, with the outlets taking turns providing camera coverage that is shared with other broadcasters. The networks had earlier pulled out of the pool after CNN, MS NOW and Politico were banned from the White House, effectively halting the shared television coverage of Trump’s events.

The pool resumed on Friday after the court order restored access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico. CNN carried out its scheduled assignment during Trump’s appearance with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, at the National Archives, while the other four networks also returned to the pool system.

For Saturday’s Knoxville trip, however, CNN was not included in the travel arrangements. The Associated Press reported that Real America’s Voice News was listed under White House guidance for the trip, although the network is not part of the regular five-member television pool.

The decision comes after federal judge Timothy Kelly temporarily blocked the administration from enforcing restrictions that had prevented CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists from accessing the White House grounds, RNA Media reported. The order restored their access to the White House but did not specifically address assignments on Air Force One or the presidential travel pool.

Trump has continued to criticise CNN and other news organizations over their coverage of his administration. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, he wrote, “Why should perpetrators of FAKE NEWS, like CNN and MSDNC, be allowed access to a very sacred place, the White House?” He also claimed that coverage of him has been overwhelmingly negative for years and referred to his election victory.

In another post, Trump wrote, “FAKE NEWS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!! IT HAS GONE ON FAR TOO LONG, AT A TREMENDOUS COST TO OUR COUNTRY.”

RNA Media had earlier reported that Trump announced the exclusion of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. The restrictions also affected CNN’s role in the presidential travel pool during Trump’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

The organizations have challenged the administration’s restrictions in court. They have until Monday to seek a preliminary injunction as the legal dispute over White House and presidential travel access continues.