White House excludes CNN from press pool for Trump’s Texas-Oklahoma trip

The White House announced on Wednesday that CNN will not be part of the press pool covering President Donald Trump’s scheduled visit to a truck plant in Denton, Texas, and a speech in Durant, Oklahoma on Thursday. The decision follows a federal judge’s order last week that blocked the administration’s attempt to limit CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s access to the White House.

CNN’s spokesperson confirmed the network’s removal from the pool but declined further comment, referring to a statement by the network’s attorney, Theodore Boutrous. > "The White House is persisting in unpredictably and inconsistently implementing the President’s unconstitutional ‘ban on the free press’ by barring CNN from fulfilling its role as a designated television network pooler—to the detriment of CNN, its fellow pool members and, ultimately, the American public."

The attorney also asked a federal judge to extend the pause on the administration’s ban. The White House has not responded to requests for comment on the exclusion.

The press pool system rotates designated outlets to share video and editorial resources for presidential events. Other major networks, including Fox News, ABC News, CBS News and NBC News, briefly halted pool participation last week in solidarity with CNN. Legal briefs supporting CNN’s position were filed by the White House Correspondents’ Association, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and a coalition of 49 media organizations.

The move adds to a pattern of the president restricting access for certain outlets; in 2025, the administration barred the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One over a naming dispute regarding the Gulf of Mexico.