White House removes CNN from pool for Tennessee trip

CNN removed from travel pool

The White House removed CNN from the group of television networks assigned to cover President Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to Knoxville, where he was scheduled to attend a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas.

CNN had been scheduled to travel with Trump aboard Air Force One and handle television coverage for other major networks. White House media guidance issued Friday night did not list CNN as part of the traveling pool, and it did not name another network as a replacement.

A television pool is a rotating group that records the president at the White House and during official travel. Pool members share their footage with other news organizations because space near the president is limited.

Fox News, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News briefly declined to participate in the pool during the week after Trump barred CNN from serving as a member.

Court order addressed credentials

Trump had also barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from access to the White House. A judge temporarily blocked that action Thursday and ordered the administration to restore the organizations’ press credentials for 14 days.

The order restored access to the White House but did not expressly require the administration to return CNN to the television pool. The travel decision therefore raised a separate question from whether CNN reporters could enter the White House using their restored credentials.

The White House had not commented on the removal when NBC News published its account. The next steps include whether the administration names another network for the Tennessee trip and how it handles CNN’s participation in future pool rotations.