CNN Barred From Travelling With Trump on Air Force One

CNN has been left off the media list for President Donald Trump’s Air Force One trip to Tennessee on Saturday.

The decision marks the latest development in the ongoing dispute between the Trump administration and several major news organisations, following a court ruling that forced the White House to allow previously restricted outlets back into its coverage.

The broadcaster had been expected to accompany Trump on his trip to Tennessee, where he is scheduled to attend a college American football game. However, a media schedule released by the White House late Friday did not include the network.

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

CNN said no other media organisation appeared to have been designated to take its place on the president’s provisional travel schedule.

The latest dispute follows Trump’s decision last week to bar journalists from CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House. The president accused the outlets of publishing what he described as “fiction or lies” about his administration.

The three organisations rejected the move and said they were considering legal action, arguing that the restrictions violated constitutional protections for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

In a show of solidarity, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC temporarily suspended their regular coverage of the president. The four networks normally participate in a rotating schedule covering the White House alongside CNN.

The administration subsequently launched its own streaming platform, Trump TV, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

A federal judge later found that the administration’s exclusion of news organisations from the White House was likely unconstitutional and ordered officials to restore their access, at least while the legal proceedings continue.

Despite the ruling, some CNN and MS NOW journalists were again denied access while covering arrivals for a state dinner held on Thursday for Chinese President Xi Jinping.

A White House communications account on X defended the administration’s position, saying that news organisations did not have unrestricted access to every area of the White House, event or press engagement.

Regular television coverage of the president resumed on Friday after White House officials permitted reporters to return.

Trump is scheduled to attend the University of Tennessee’s game against the University of Texas at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville around midday on Saturday.

Source: BBC News | Culled by Lawrence Abiona