Breaking

Judge restores CNN, MS NOW, Politico White House access; CNN cut from Air Force One pool

A 14-day restraining order found the outlets likely lost their passes without due process. A day later, the White House removed CNN from its weekend TV pool slot, and the other networks declined to fill it.

Motion Media News Staff

Sep 25, 2026

3 minutes

A plaque on the wall of the White House press briefing room.

Photo: The White House (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons (source)

A federal judge ordered the White House to temporarily restore access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico this week, and reporters from all three returned to the grounds on Thursday, Sept. 24. On Friday, the White House told reporters CNN would no longer serve as the television pool on the president's weekend trip to Tennessee.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order reinstating the outlets' credentials for 14 days while their lawsuit proceeds, NBC News reported. Kelly wrote that the outlets were likely to succeed at least on their claim that their hard passes were revoked without due process, and that the administration offered little evidence for its argument that the ban was based on national security.

President Trump announced the ban on Truth Social the previous Friday, citing what he called the outlets' "FAKE NEWS," according to NBC. Kelly wrote that the national security rationale "is not what President Trump said" when he announced it.

A slow return

Reporters from the three outlets were still turned away on Thursday morning. Kelly ordered the administration to explain in writing, and a filing from White House press operations director Micah Stopperich laid out a timeline for reactivating the passes, NBC reported. The judge then denied the outlets' request for an emergency hearing. CNN's Betsy Klein and MS NOW's Laura Barrón-López went live from the grounds that afternoon, and Politico said one of its reporters was admitted.

CNN and MS NOW journalists also said Thursday that they were denied entry to the arrivals for the state dinner honoring Chinese President Xi Jinping, a precredentialed event.

Ted Boutrous, the outlets' lawyer, called the order "a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process and the rule of law."

The pool dispute

CNN had been scheduled to be the weekend's TV pooler aboard Air Force One for Trump's trip to a college football game in Knoxville, The Hill reported. The White House note did not name a replacement. Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox anchor and president of the White House Correspondents' Association, told CNN that without the network "the pool can't function."

CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox News declined to step in, NPR reported, leaving outlets outside the pool rotation, including Real America's Voice, to cover the trip. In a Saturday morning post quoted by NPR, Trump wrote that White House access "is a privilege, not a right."