Court reprieve addressed grounds, not Air Force One pool access
The White House did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking additional details about the Air Force One decision. Boutrous said earlier Friday on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” that the plaintiffs believe the recent court ruling covers pool access as well. The Associated Press reported Boutrous did not respond to a follow-up email and phone call Friday night.
During the day, the U.S. network video pool returned to operation for the first time since Trump barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House grounds. 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 — along with MS NOW and Politico, the other four pool providers declined to participate in a show of solidarity.
A person familiar with the pool said Friday, “As of now, all systems are go,” speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluidity of the situation.
At noon on CNN, viewers could see Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, along with Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, 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. Brian Stelter, CNN’s media analyst, posted on X that CNN had held a pool assignment for that event and that the White House had approved the network’s credentials. CNN was not commenting directly earlier Friday, referring instead to its editorial coverage.
The slot reserved for CNN on the Saturday flight has long been set aside for a member of the U.S. network video pool, of which Real America’s Voice News is not a part. Trump is scheduled to attend a Saturday midday college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas.
The current restrictions trace to last week, when Trump barred CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the executive complex. Throughout his second term, Trump has increasingly targeted media outlets whose coverage irritates him, taking administrative or legal action against several. Early last year he banished AP reporters from White House events because the organization wasn’t abiding by his executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” The AP’s guidance says to acknowledge the new name when relevant. A federal district judge ruled in AP’s favor; the case is on appeal.
The press pool was created decades ago by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a group of journalists who cover the president, to make sure a rotating roster always travels with the president. The association distributes in-person reports and imagery to the broader press corps and is designed to hold the nation’s chief executive accountable on behalf of the American public. The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.