CNN 'Barred' From Trump Trip to Tennessee, React As You Would Expect

Nicholas Spinnato
September 25th, 2026 11:55 PM

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On Friday night, CNN announced they were “barred” from traveling with President Trump on his trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, and gave the story on themselves the breaking news treatment. CNN reported they were due to travel on Air Force One, as it was the channel’s turn in the network press pool on Saturday, before they were removed.

CNN’s own online report read, “The move — announced Friday night in a White House note that lays out the president’s schedule — represents the Trump administration’s latest salvo against CNN and the broader White House press corps. No outlet was listed as replacing CNN, meaning there will be no television pool coverage of his trip.”

Trump is set to visit Knoxville, Tennessee, on Saturday to watch the University of Tennessee play the Texas Longhorns in an SEC football matchup.

The first known story on the topic was published by The Washington Post near 8 PM Eastern, with the headline: “White House blocks CNN from trip on Air Force One.”

 

 

For CNN’s own on-air announcement, at the end of Anderson Cooper 360, the eponymous host closed his show and announced the news: 

We have news just breaking right now. We have just learned that the White House has barred CNN from traveling with the president on Air Force One tomorrow.

White House reporter Alayna Treene, now on White House grounds after not being allowed inside most of the week until a judge ordered her and others from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico to have their access reinstated, explained how CNN was supposed to be on TV pool duty but was now not on the Air Force One travel list through White House "daily guidance." She then stated, "CNN is not listed. And essentially what that means is that the White House is now preventing CNN from carrying out their TV pool duties."

 

 

At the start of The Source with fill-in host Jim Sciutto, he began, “As we come on the air tonight, we do have breaking news that once again involves this network. CNN has been told that the White House is, once again, moving to bar journalists from covering the president as part of the White House television press pool.”

He then continued to lambast the removal of CNN from the travel list, adding his own opinion on Trump’s motivations:

It's a setup designed to document history, and it's been in place for many decades under presidents, both Democratic and Republican. But this president alone appears intent on trashing that tradition because of news coverage he does not like.

Later, CNN’s media analyst Brian Stelter explained the pool to some viewers and said the White House is trying to "break" the press system:

 

 

So, the TV pool is what the White House is trying to break right now. They're trying to break the system, and I think they're probably trying to shatter the solidarity that we saw this week as the five major networks banded together. It seems to me they are trying to test the limits, get away with as much as they possibly can. And this is exactly what Ted Boutros predicted the other day. He's the outside counsel for CNN, MS, and Politico. He predicted there would be more shenanigans. And that's exactly what we're seeing now, Jim. We're seeing shenanigans.

Treene then returned to the air and noted CNN was at the National Archives today as part of pool duty. Sciutto then made a point about the shared visit of Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the National Archives that ABC’s Rachel Scott made on Friday's ABC World News Tonight:

 

 

By the way, when they went to the Archives today, what did they look at? They looked at the Constitution, where there is a mention of Freedom of the Press.

The transcript is below. Click "expand":

CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360

September 25, 2026

8:55:52 PM Eastern

ANDERSON COOPER: We have news just breaking right now. We have just learned that the White House has barred CNN from traveling with the president on Air Force One tomorrow. 

CNN's Alayna Treene joins us now with more. So, Alayna, what's going on?

ALAYNA TREENE: Yeah. Look, so we just got what we call the daily guidance. It's essentially what the White House puts out every evening to give people a sense of who will be covering and traveling with the president the next day and what the events are. 

CNN is not listed. And essentially what that means is that the White House is now preventing CNN from carrying out their TV pool duties. For our viewers, the pool is essentially a group, at least a television pool, is a group of five networks. CNN, ABC, FOX News, NBC, and CBS that, on any given day, one of the networks is represented is charged with representing all of the other networks and whoever is filming the president. That footage is being used by everyone. 

Now, CNN's role, their day to be part of the pool and cover the president was tomorrow, on Saturday. Now, that means our cameramen here would be at the White House early in the morning to cover the president's every movements. He is expected to travel to Knoxville, Tennessee. CNN would also be on the plane with him. And what we're learning is we are not able to do that now. Now it's unclear - I’d note that earlier, earlier in the week - or last week, I should say - when the president had said that they were banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from entering the White House and also stripping CNN of its pool duties. The other networks ,who are part of the pool, as I mentioned, FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS, said that they weren't going to be part of it either. It's unclear what is going to happen to it now, though. 

For now, when you look at the schedule, it says two more Trump-friendly TV organizations. One is Lindell TV of Mike Lindell, a former - a very close ally of the president, and then also Real America's Voice are expected to be the secondary pool for television. 

So look, it's unclear what this could actually mean. Obviously, a judge yesterday had ruled that CNN, yesterday morning, just after 1 A.M., had ruled that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, Anderson, needed to have their badges and their access to the white house returned. 

As you can see, I am talking to you right now from the White House. So we were allowed into the White House. But the question of the pool for CNN was a bit murkier. We did hear our outside lawyer representing CNN, Politico, and MS NOW did say, earlier today, that he believed the restoration of the outlet's access included the White House Pool. But clearly, this White House is keeping us from doing so. So, a new turn in this legal case, we'll have to see where it leads.

COOPER: And is there any indication that they will take your press passes at this point. Will you still be granted access to the white house grounds? Is it just the pool? Do we know?

TREENE: As far as we know, they are allowing our access? I am currently inside the White House campus. Now look, if I were to leave and come back in, I haven't tried that yet. Could they try to prevent us from coming in? I don't think that's the case, given that they had announced yesterday and told the judge that they were allowing us back into the grounds and we were able to get in yesterday, around 12:30 P.M. 

So, I think this is a separate question. I think this is a question of allowing us to carry out our role as part of the pool, to travel with the president, to document his every movements. But we'll have to see. I mean, could this be another turn in the case where they try to prevent us? I'm not sure. But for now, we are still - you know, there's been no Secret Service agents coming to our little area inside the White House, Anderson, and escorting us off the premises. So for now, I believe we're still allowed here.

(...)

CNN’s The Source

Septemebr 25, 2026

9:00:43 PM Eastern

JIM SCIUTTO: Breaking news tonight. The White House has just barred CNN from covering President Trump on behalf of major television networks as he travels to Tennessee. I'm Jim Sciutto in for Kaitlan Collins. And this is the source.

[Show Introduction]

As we come on the air tonight, we do have breaking news that once again involves this network. CNN has been told that the White House is, once again, moving to bar journalists from covering the president as part of the White House television press pool. It was just this morning, following a ruling from a federal judge, that CNN was allowed to resume our pool coverage duties.  

(...)

9:03:38 PM Eastern

SCIUTTO: Okay, Brian, help explain the distinction here for folks at home who might not know how a pool operates. What does it mean for CNN to be on the grounds of the White House, but not carrying out pool duties?

BRIAN STELTER: Right. The pool is the primary way that Americans know what the president is doing and saying. There are several different pools. There's a print pool with news reporters from the AP and Reuters and the New York Times. There's a radio pool. There's a still photography pool. Trump likes lots of photographers that could be around him every day so he lets in five different outlets for photos. 

But then we're talking primarily here about the TV pool, and that is the responsibility shared by the five major networks in the U.S. It used to be four until CNN actually sued. Ted Turner did this in the early 1980s to get CNN added. Actually, it was three, then it was CNN with four, then it was FOX News. There's five major networks that now responsible. They take turns. It's an alphabetical order. It's very simple. A, C, and it goes through the list. So, tomorrow is CNN's turn. 

This is something is very cut and dry. And the TV pool is the primary way that people around the world see the president, because the TV pool spends a lot of money getting those live shots ready and providing feeds to everybody else from local TV stations to the New York Times to networks all around the world.

So, the TV pool is what the White House is trying to break right now. They're trying to break the system, and I think they're probably trying to shatter the solidarity that we saw this week as the five major networks banded together. It seems to me they are trying to test the limits, get away with as much as they possibly can. And this is exactly what Ted Boutros predicted the other day. He's the outside counsel for CNN, MS, and Politico. He predicted there would be more shenanigans. And that's exactly what we're seeing now, Jim. We're seeing shenanigans.

(...)

9:09:17 PM Eastern

TREENE: But this was, I think, a bit surprising in some senses, given that today we did see CNN allowed back into the pool. Our colleagues were able, our cameramen, one of our producers here at the White House, was able to go with the president to the National Archives for pool duty there. I should note, it wasn't pool duty here, specifically at the white house. It was at the National Archives, but it was run by this White House. So, um, a difference there. 

And obviously I'm still giving this report. I'm still speaking to you from here inside the White House. There hasn't, as far as I know, been any difference today in actual access. I was able to access the White House just fine to scan my badge, as I typically would have done prior to the president announcing that ban to come in here. I haven't heard anything yet about needing to leave the premises. So, it does appear that this is still specifically about the pool duties and our ability to cover the president cover as every moves be the one representing all of the networks being that source, as Brian explained, where most people, when they watch the president or see footage of him be the ones who are actually delivering that to them. And so it's unclear where what happens from here.

And I will reiterate something we heard Elie and Brian say, which is that our outside lawyer who is representing not just us, but also Ms NOW and Politico, did say earlier today that he believed that the judge's order would apply to the pool as well. So, unclear what this distinction that the white house is actually making and whether or not it will actually be held up in court.

SCIUTTO: No question. By the way, when they went to the archives today, what did they look at? They looked at the Constitution, where there is a mention of freedom of the press. Alayna Treene at the white house. Thanks so much. 

(...)

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