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White House blocks CNN from Air Force One as feud with media continues

Read the original at ABC News (AU) ↗
Cite

White House blocks CNN from Air Force One as feud with media continues. (2026, September 26). ABC News (AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-26/white-house-blocks-cnn-from-air-force-one-trip/107199678

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

ABC News (AU) · collected 2026-09-26

Quick Summary

The White House has barred CNN from accompanying President Donald Trump on an upcoming trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, replacing them with the conservative network Real America’s Voice. This decision follows a court ruling that temporarily halted the administration's ban on CNN and other media outlets from accessing the White House grounds. The move is part of ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and certain media organizations whose coverage has been critical or unfavorable.
Written by AI on 2026-09-27, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 25, 2026, the White House barred CNN from flying with President Donald Trump on Air Force One for his trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, on September 26, where he was scheduled to attend a college football game. This decision followed a previous ban by Trump against CNN and other outlets like MS NOW and Politico from covering his daily activities at the White House. Despite a judge’s order restoring access to the White House grounds for these networks, the ruling did not address Air Force One pool duties. The spot meant for CNN was instead given to Real America's Voice News, a conservative network. This move escalates an ongoing dispute over media freedoms and highlights concerns about First Amendment implications.

Written for “CNN Barred From Air Force One” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 20 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 CNN Barred From Air Force One
Politics · 21 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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CBC News
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 16 claims Outlet record 74/100
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 64/100
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 64/100
Reason
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 12 of 44 claims Outlet record 67/100
September 26, 2026 Same event
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⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 6 of 57 claims
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
2 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
68/100
ABC News (AU)'s corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
21
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (AU) · 4411 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

Who wrote this

No reporter is named on this article.

Topics

Air Force One CNN MS NOW Politico The White House

Subjects

CNN ORG · 10× Trump PERSON · 7× The White House ORG · 6× MS NOW ORG · 3× Politico ORG · 3× Donald Trump's PERSON · 2× Real America's Voice ORG · 2× White House ORG · 2× Knoxville GPE · 1× Tennessee GPE · 1×

Narrative

US District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, saying it was likely unconstitutional. Judge Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organisations filed contesting the ban, which argued it violated the US Constitution's First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-27
🔮 In short: The White House has signalled that CNN will be barred from an upcoming Air Force One trip, replacing the news organisation with a conservative network.
2026-09-27 · ABC News (AU)
White House blocks CNN from Air Force One as feud with media continues · assertive framing

Claims (25 extracted, 2 hedged)

In short: The White House has signalled that CNN will be barred from an upcoming Air Force One trip, replacing the news organisation with a conservative network. asserted
CNN → signal → network
It comes after CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists returned to the White House grounds after a judge struck down Donald Trump's ban on the three outlets. asserted
judge → come → outlets
Mr Trump has increasingly targeted media outlets whose coverage irritates him, taking administrative or legal action against several. asserted
coverage → target → several
The White House has signalled that CNN would be left off Air Force One for Donald Trump's upcoming trip, in the latest media restriction from the administration. asserted
CNN → signal → administration
The news organisation was replaced by Real America's Voice, a conservative network, for the US president's trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, according to White House guidance. Mr Trump is scheduled to attend a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas at midday Saturday, local time. uncertain
Trump → replace → midday
The news came just after journalists from CNN, along with MS NOW and Politico — which Mr Trump banned last week from the White House grounds — returned to the executive complex with TV cameras in hand after a judge handed the organisations a reprieve. asserted
judge → come → reprieve
US District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, saying it was likely unconstitutional. Judge Kelly issued his order in a lawsuit that the news organisations filed contesting the ban, which argued it violated the US Constitution's First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press. asserted
it → strike → speech
The judge's decision addressed "hard passes" to the White House grounds but did not directly address pool duties nor Air Force One. asserted
decision → address → duties
Theodore Boutrous Jr, the news outlets' attorney, did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment. asserted
Jr → respond → comment
Earlier Friday, on "The Lead with Jake Tapper," Mr Boutrous had said the plaintiffs believed the recent court ruling also covered the issue of pool access. asserted
ruling → say → access
The White House did not immediately respond to an AP email requesting additional details on the decision. asserted
House → respond → decision
For a while during the day, the US network video pool for the White House was back in operation for the first time since Mr Trump banned the three news outlets in an extraordinary showdown over media access. asserted
Trump → ban → access
At noon on CNN, viewers could see Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, along with Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, Xi's wife. uncertain
Trump → see → Trump
It was a routine report from a state visit — except that CNN had not aired live video of Mr Trump in several days. asserted
CNN → air → days
The pool consists of five major US broadcast outlets that take turns shooting and sharing video. asserted
that → consist → video
When the White House banned CNN — which belongs to the pool — from White House grounds, along with MS NOW and Politico, the other four pool providers declined to participate in a show of solidarity. asserted
providers → ban → solidarity
The spot meant for CNN on the Air Force One flight has long been saved for a member of the US network video pool, which Real America's Voice is not a part of. asserted
Voice → mean → which
CNN did not comment directly earlier Friday, referring instead to its editorial coverage. asserted
CNN → comment → coverage
But Brian Stelter, the network's media analyst, posted on X that CNN had a pool assignment at the National Archives event and that the White House had approved the network's credentials. asserted
House → post → credentials
Throughout his second term, Mr Trump has increasingly targeted media outlets whose coverage irritates him, taking administrative or legal action against several. asserted
coverage → target → several
Early last year, he banished AP reporters from White House events because the organisation was not abiding by his executive order changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America". asserted
organisation → banish → America
The AP's guidance says to acknowledge the new name when relevant. asserted
guidance → say → name
The case is on appeal after a federal district judge ruled in AP's favour. asserted
judge → rule → favour
The press pool was created decades ago by the White House Correspondents' Association, a group of journalists who cover the president, to make sure a rotating roster always travels with the president. asserted
roster → create → president
The pool distributes in-person reports and imagery to the broader press corps and is designed to hold the nation's chief executive accountable on behalf of the American public. asserted
executive → distribute → public
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