White House Drops CNN From Scheduled Press Pool Duty for Trump’s Texas, Oklahoma Trip

The White House removed CNN from the press pool traveling with President Donald Trump to Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday despite the network previously being scheduled to cover the trip on behalf of other TV outlets.

CNN had been designated for the assignment in a press rotation document released by the White House on Sunday. But daily guidance issued Wednesday for Trump’s visit to a truck manufacturing facility in Denton, Texas, followed by remarks in Durant, Oklahoma, no longer listed the network as providing television pool coverage.

The switch comes days after a federal judge temporarily halted Trump’s effort to bar CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, finding the outlets were likely to succeed on their claim that their due-process rights had been violated when their credentials were revoked.

The temporary order restored access to White House grounds but did not specifically address travel aboard Air Force One or participation in the presidential press pool.

CNN was similarly blocked from traveling aboard Air Force One last weekend when Trump flew to Tennessee for a college football game, despite the network being scheduled for pool duty. No replacement network traveled in its place.

Emily Kuhn, a CNN spokesperson, confirmed to NBC News that the network had been removed from Thursday’s planned coverage but referred questions to an earlier statement from Theodore Boutrous, an attorney representing CNN, MS NOW, and Politico in their lawsuit against the administration.

“As we have said from the beginning, the President’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and due process,” Boutrous said Monday.

The three outlets have asked U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly to keep the restrictions blocked while their lawsuit proceeds. Kelly’s temporary order restored their White House access for 14 days, but litigation over the broader ban remains unresolved.

Watch above via MS NOW.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!