The White House openly defied a federal judge's order on Saturday morning by once again banning CNN, preventing its journalists from accessing the presidential plane as part of the press pool that follows the president every day, on a trip to Tennessee. The decision means there will be no graphic coverage this weekend, as no one will occupy the seat during the college football game attended by Donald Trump.
Just a week ago, Trump announced that he was revoking White House entry cards (known as 'hard passes' in local jargon) for employees of CNN, MSNBC, and Politico, accusing them of spreading misinformation. The companies issued a joint statement and took the matter to court. Coincidentally, the judge handling the case was the same one who, during his first term, had overturned the revocation of a CNN journalist's credential. The court ruling told the White House that access could not be restricted on a whim, and a few days later, political correspondents were allowed back in.
During that time, the other major television networks, including Fox, which is more aligned with the president's agenda and vision, boycotted the coverage. The White House press pool is a group of journalists from print, radio, television, and agencies who follow the president 24 hours a day, every day of the year, whether in Washington, the U.S., or around the world. Historically, the White House Correspondents' Association designed the rotations, but now Trump's team has taken on that role, incorporating media outlets with little experience before the institution that are aligned with them, but without issues for the rest. With exceptions.
Initially, Trump wanted to expel journalists from the Associated Press because the agency chose not to comply with his orders to stop using the term "Gulf of Mexico" and start calling it the "Gulf of America." A judge intervened. And now the same situation is repeating with the networks, especially CNN, with which he has a particularly bad relationship.
The latest example was seen this morning when the Administration acted interpreting that the judge's order required them to return the credentials and allow journalists access to the White House, and even facilitate their coverage when in Washington, as happened on Friday when CNN was responsible for sharing the feed with the other networks during the visit of the Chinese and American presidents to the National Archives. But what the order does not cover is access to Air Force One, the presidential plane, for trips.
n any case, the Republican leader takes issue with the former. "Why should those who spread FAKE NEWS, such as CNN and MSDNC, be allowed access to a place as sacred as the White House? Despite my great election victory, almost 100% of the coverage on 'TRUMP' is negative—and it has been for years!" he wrote on his social media account, sharing an article from an unknown news outlet with the headline "The defiant White House rebukes journalists: 'Access is a privilege, not a right.'" Shortly afterward, he reiterated his characteristic style: "THE SPREAD OF FAKE NEWS IN THE WHITE HOUSE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED!!! IT HAS GONE ON FOR TOO LONG, AT A TREMENDOUS COST TO OUR COUNTRY."
A judge has given the media until Monday to file a motion for a preliminary injunction, which would suspend Trump's promised ban for a longer period of time.