White House bars CNN from Air Force One as media battle escalates

The White House is barring CNN from flying on Air Force One with Donald Trump on Saturday, excluding the network from its White House TV press pool duties on Trump’s trip to Tennessee for a college football game.

The move was announced in a White House schedule note on Friday night that did not list CNN in the travel manifest. CNN said on Friday it was scheduled to fly aboard the plane as part of the rotating TV pool, which covers the president where space is limited and shares material with the other major networks.

No replacement outlet was listed, meaning there will be no television pool coverage of the trip. The Washington Post first reported the decision.

The exclusion is the latest escalation in the administration’s battle with the press.Last week Trump revoked White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico over what he called false coverage; on Thursday a federal judge ordered the administration to restore the outlets’ access and blocked enforcement of the ban for 14 days, and regular pool coverage resumed on Friday for Chinese president Xi Jinping’s visit. The three outlets have until Monday to seek a longer preliminary injunction.

Trump also prevented CNN from fulfilling its scheduled pool duties on the Air Force One trip to the UN General Assembly in New York.

Sources

• The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/25/white-house-cnn-air-force-one
• CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/25/politics/white-house-blocks-cnn-air-force-one-travel-pool
• The Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com:443/international/article-909751
• Reuters: https://froggyweb.com/2026/09/25/white-house-blocks-cnn-from-air-force-one-trip-washington-post-reports/