Overview
- The White House omitted CNN from the Air Force One television pool rotation on Saturday, Sept. 26, listing Lindell TV as a secondary crew instead of naming a primary network.
- A federal judge issued a 14‑day temporary restraining order that restored hard‑pass access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, and gave the outlets until Monday to seek a preliminary injunction to keep the ban blocked.
- Major broadcast networks initially refused to perform TV‑pool duties in protest after access was revoked, then resumed shared coverage with CNN included during President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the National Archives.
- The television press‑pool is a small, rotating TV crew that records the president’s travel and events and distributes video to other outlets, so removing a pool member can limit independent footage and concentrate control over what viewers see.
- The Justice Department is defending the administration’s actions, press groups warn the exclusions show viewpoint‑based targeting, and the White House’s own streaming outlets create a new path for distributing presidential video outside the traditional pool system.