White House Bars CNN From Air Force One Ahead of Trump's Tennessee Trip

The White House has barred CNN from travelling aboard Air Force One for President Donald Trump's trip to Tennessee on Saturday, according to reports of the decision.

CNN had originally been scheduled to be part of the press contingent accompanying the president on the flight, under the standard arrangement in which a rotating pool of journalists travels with the president to cover his movements and public appearances, later sharing their reporting with other outlets.

The exclusion marks a further instance of friction between the administration and the network, which has reported extensively, and at times critically, on the president and his policies.

Air Force One press arrangements are typically coordinated through a pool system run in cooperation with the White House press corps. Removing an individual outlet from that rotation is unusual and has drawn attention from press freedom advocates in the past when similar steps have been taken by other administrations.

Neither the White House nor CNN was reported as offering an extended public explanation for the decision at the time the story emerged. Details of the Tennessee trip itself have not been widely reported beyond its scheduled date.

The episode adds to a broader pattern of tension between the Trump administration and several major US news organisations over access to briefings, press pool participation and credentialing, an issue that has drawn continued scrutiny from media watchdogs monitoring press freedom in the country.