FILE PHOTO: The CNN booth at the White House after US President Donald Trump announced he would ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
The White House signalled on Friday (September 25, 2026) night that CNN would be left off Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s Saturday (September 26, 2026) trip, the latest media restriction from the administration in an ongoing dispute with First Amendment implications.
The news organisation was replaced by Real America’s Voice News, a conservative outlet.
The news came just after journalists from three news outlets that Mr. Trump banned last week from the White House grounds returned to the executive complex with TV cameras, laptops and microphones in hand.
The U.S. network video pool for the White House was back in operation Friday (September 25, 2026), for the first time since President Donald Trump banned three news outlets in an extraordinary showdown over media access.
At noon on CNN, viewers could see Mr. Trump and President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, along with Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, Mr. Xi’s wife. The banner along the bottom of the screen read: “Trump and China’s Xi Visit National Archives.” It was a routine report from a state visit — but for the fact that CNN had not aired live video of Trump in several days.
“As of now, all systems are go,” said a person familiar with the pool, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluidity of the situation.
The pool consists of five major U.S. broadcast outlets that take turns shooting and sharing video. When the White House banned CNN — which belongs to the pool — from White House grounds, along with MS NOW and Politico, the other four pool providers declined to participate in a show of solidarity.
A judge temporarily struck down the ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday (September 24, 2026), but his ruling didn’t directly address the pool. The networks continued to refrain from covering Trump as part of the pool, even as reporters from all three outlets were allowed back in the White House.
CNN was not commenting directly on Friday (September 25, 2026), referring instead to its editorial coverage. But Brian Stelter, the network’s media analyst, posted on X that CNN had a pool assignment at the National Archives event and that the White House had approved the network’s credentials.
Published – September 26, 2026 09:40 am IST
