White House bars CNN from covering Trump's Tennessee visit

The White House has prevented CNN reporters from boarding Air Force One to cover President Donald Trump's trip to Tennessee, the network said. The journalists had been slated to join the television press pool for the president's visit to Knoxville, where he was expected to attend a college football game.

Press-pool replacement and fallout

As part of the pool arrangement, the network would have shared video and information with four other major broadcast outlets. Instead, CNN was replaced on the roster by the conservative outlet "Glas News," affiliated with Real America's Voice.

The move followed an earlier decision by Trump this week to bar several media organizations — CNN, MSNBC and Politico — from entering the White House, accusing them of reporting "fiction and lies." Major broadcast networks later suspended joint coverage of the president in a show of solidarity.

Media organizations sued, and a federal judge on Thursday temporarily lifted the White House's exclusion order for entry to the White House complex. The judge's order related specifically to physical access to the complex and did not directly address the assignments or responsibilities of the television press pool.

Network officials said the latest restriction prevents their reporters from riding on Air Force One and from taking part in the pool's daily collection and distribution of footage and reporting during presidential travel. The replacement of CNN with a conservative outlet is likely to deepen tensions between the White House and mainstream news organizations.

For now, the dispute highlights continuing disputes over press access at the presidential level and raises questions about how pool duties will be administered during the president's travel schedule.

Photo: press material from the event