Trump WH Battle With CNN Continues, Leaving No Pool TV Coverage For Latest Event

(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump’s administration has continued to block CNN’s White House access — despite a court order restoring that access.

In a Thursday afternoon tweet, CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter revealed that the network had been left off the White House list for pool coverage of Trump’s trip to South Carolina. The tweet read:

Two days after @BoutrousTed sent a letter to the DOJ threatening further legal action if the White House keeps excluding CNN from Air Force One, the White House is at it again.

Today is CNN’s turn to fulfill both in-town and out-of-town TV pool duties, but the White House press office left the network off the list for Trump’s trip to South Carolina, so as a result there will be no pooled TV coverage of the trip.

Boutrous said in the letter that he needs to hear back from the administration by Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern, or CNN “will be forced to pursue additional judicial relief…”

Last month, the president announced on Truth Social that CNN, Politico and MS NOW would be banned from the White House over what he considered to be biased coverage of his administration. That decision was met with near-unanimous backlash, resulting in the outlets having their access restored days later.

Trump, however, has continued to fight the outlets over access at every turn. Despite a court order temporarily blocking the bans, reporters have said they were still met with resistance trying to access the White House grounds. Last week, the administration announced its intention to appeal the federal court order.

As Stelter referenced in his tweet, Ted Boutrous — CNN’s lead attorney — sent a letter to the Trump administration warning of additional legal action if CNN continued to be barred from Air Force One. Such a restriction prevents CNN from providing TV pool coverage at out-of-town events like Trump’s South Carolina trip.

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