White House Pulls CNN From Press Pool Again, Defying Judge's Ruling

The White House abruptly stripped CNN of its pool duty on Wednesday night, hours before Trump was due to travel to Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday, according to The Guardian. That leaves Real America's Voice, a conservative network, as the only pooler for the trip. None of the other four networks in the primary television pool will step in to replace CNN, mirroring their response on Saturday, which means there will be no primary pool footage of the president's travels — though networks may still cover individual portions of the trip.

The exclusion is the second in a week and follows a district judge's ruling two days earlier that overturned the White House's ban on CNN and two other media organizations. CNN had been kept off pool duty aboard Air Force One on Saturday despite that decision. The country's largest broadcast and cable television news networks have not aired Real America's Voice footage, though the network has widely publicized its availability.

There had briefly appeared to be a thaw in the dispute. On Sunday, the White House published a pool assignment list naming CNN as the in-town pooler for Thursday's activities, with Real America's Voice listed as secondary pooler. That arrangement was undone Wednesday night without explanation.

The five networks that make up the primary television pool have proceeded on a day-by-day basis since the White House first banned CNN on 18 September, initially suspending operations before tentatively resuming this past Friday. CNN declined to comment on its latest exclusion. A White House official issued a statement praising Trump's accessibility and describing television networks as "performative and dishonest."

The legal fight is still developing. Earlier this week, lawyers for CNN, MS Now and Politico — the three outlets targeted by the ban — formally asked a judge to extend his ruling overturning the White House ban for 14 days. The judge is expected to hold a hearing soon to weigh arguments over whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would block the ban while CNN's 21 September lawsuit against the White House proceeds.