White House Excludes CNN From Trump Flight Pool

The White House excluded CNN from its scheduled television pool assignment aboard Air Force One for President Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, according to Friday travel guidance. The decision came a day after a federal judge temporarily restored White House credentials for CNN and two other news organizations. Reports differed over which outlets, if any, would take CNN’s place, leaving the trip’s television pool arrangements unclear. CNN had been scheduled to rotate into the pool for the trip, covering Trump on behalf of major television networks and sharing footage with them. The pool’s participating broadcasters resumed coverage Friday, with CNN assigned to cover Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the National Archives. That marked a return to pool coverage after the other broadcasters had declined to participate while CNN was barred from White House grounds. The White House guidance released Friday did not include CNN in the assignment. Some reports said Real America’s Voice was listed as a replacement, while another said the guidance named both Real America’s Voice and LindellTV. A separate account said no replacement was listed.