Politico Excluded From Trump’s Air Force One Press Pool

Politico was excluded from the press pool scheduled to travel with President Donald Trump to Nebraska on October 5, despite a temporary court order restoring the outlet’s access to White House grounds. The exclusion renewed a dispute over whether that order also protects journalists’ participation in limited-capacity presidential events such as Air Force One trips. A Politico spokesperson confirmed the outlet had been scheduled as the print-pool reporter for the trip but was left out of the traveling group. The White House has not publicly provided a specific reason for the decision, according to the reports. The pool is a small group of journalists who accompany the president and share coverage with the wider White House press corps. The dispute follows U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly’s September 24 temporary order requiring the administration to restore press credentials and White House grounds access for journalists from Politico, CNN and MS NOW. The order addressed credentials and access to the grounds but did not explicitly address assignments to Air Force One’s travel pool.