Amid heightened tensions between President Trump and the US media, Real America’s Voice News will replace CNN on Air Force One.
Published September 26, 2026
CNN has been barred from flying on Air Force One to cover President Donald Trump on behalf of the major television networks, the latest reporting restriction by the White House.
At the direction of the White House, the president’s trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, to watch a college football game was broadcast by conservative outlet Real America’s Voice News on behalf of CNN.
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President Trump announced last week that he had banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House grounds.
The White House press corps is made up of five major broadcast stations that take turns recording and broadcasting video. In a show of solidarity, four other providers (Fox, ABC, CBS, and NBC) refused to join the pool until access was restored.
Three banned news organizations have filed suit against President Trump’s ban, accusing the White House of violating their First Amendment rights.
“If left unchecked, this threatens press freedom and the people’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” their statement said.
In an overnight ruling early Thursday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily revoked the ban, saying the government’s argument that the stations were banned to protect national security lacked “factual support.”
“Defendants have not provided any declaration or other support, whether confidential or unclassified, as to how the reporting identified in the letter to Plaintiffs undermined national security,” Kelly said in his ruling.
The judge’s ruling referred to press passes to the White House and did not directly address pool duty or Air Force One.
Earlier Friday, the media outlet’s attorney, Theodore Boutras Jr., said on CNN’s “The Read with Jake Tapper” that the plaintiffs believe the judge’s ruling also covers the issue of access to the pool.
Seats on the presidential plane for CNN have long been reserved for members of the U.S. network video pool, but Real America’s Voice News is not participating.
