On Monday, 5 October, Air Force One left for Grand Island, Nebraska, where President Donald Trump was scheduled to appear at a rally with Senator Pete Ricketts, the incumbent Republican. A small group of reporters always travels with the president and sends word of what he says and does back to everyone else. Under the rotation the White House Correspondents’ Association sets, the print place in that group belonged to Politico that day. The White House would not let Politico board.
A Politico spokesperson confirmed the exclusion, which was [first reported by CNN](<https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/05/media/politico-white-house-print-pool-media-cnn-msnow>). According to [MS NOW](<https://www.ms.now/news/white-house-blocks-politico-air-force-one-pool>), the guidance the White House sent out on Sunday evening listed Monday’s in-town pool and made no mention of the out-of-town pool. The omission came before any explanation did.
An offer declined
What happened next is the part worth stopping on. CNN reported that the White House tried to give Politico’s place to other outlets that regularly take turns in the travel pool. Sources with knowledge of the matter told CNN that all of them said no. In an email to colleagues, Washington Post reporter Katherine Doyle wrote that the White House “was unable to find a replacement,” so “there is no primary print pooler on this trip.”
The Post was on the plane in the secondary print seat, whose occupant does not normally send updates to the wider press corps. On Monday the Post sent them anyway, while making clear it was not filling in for Politico. CBS, which held the television pool slot that day, also shared its notes with print outlets. “Neither news organization is replacing Politico,” Josh Gross of CBS News wrote in an internal email.
These organizations compete with each other every day for every scrap of news on the White House beat. MS NOW explained what the pool is for: a few journalists pass on what they see of the president to the entire press corps, so smaller outlets get a daily record of the presidency without paying to travel. A government that controls the seats on the plane can choose who sits in them. Monday showed that it cannot make anyone accept a seat on those terms.
The building and the plane
The dispute began on September 18, when Trump announced he was “banning” Politico, CNN and MS NOW from the White House. CNN reported that legal experts called the move unconstitutional. The Hill reported that Trump tied the ban to what he called the outlets’ “fake news,” reporting that he and his lawyers argue put national security at risk. On September 21 the three outlets sued, alleging violations of the First and Fifth Amendments. Judge Timothy J. Kelly issued a temporary restraining order requiring the administration to give back their press badges. The Hill described the ruling as finding that the outlets’ due process rights had been violated.
The badges were returned. Then the administration found a smaller door it could shut. On days when CNN held the television pool slot, the White House kept it off Air Force One, including for Trump’s football trip to Tennessee. CNN says this happened repeatedly; The Hill counted two occasions. On Monday it was Politico, on its own turn in the rotation.
Last week [TIME](<https://time.com/article/2026/10/05/politico-white-house-pool-air-force-one-trump-media-ban/>) reporters asked Trump whether he was ignoring the court order. He said no, and his communications director, Steven Cheung, explained the reasoning:
“The judge basically ordered them to renew their access back to the White House, but that’s different than allowing the pool into the events in the Oval Office or on Air Force One.”
On Monday a White House spokesperson put it to CNN in terms of favour: “Many outlets including Politico are granted access to attend and cover presidential events unilaterally, but traveling with the President of the United States aboard Air Force One is a privilege not a right.” The spokesperson also said Trump “will continue to grant an unprecedented level of access to the press.” The Justice Department is making the same case in court.
Rulers have long described what they hold back as their right, and what they hand out as a gift. In Monday’s statement the word “privilege” does that work.
What the courts have said
The administration may be on firmer legal ground in the air than inside the White House gates. MS NOW noted that the lawsuit is about access to the White House as it stood before September 18 and does not directly deal with the pool. Outlets do need White House credentials to take part in the pool, though, and the question has come up in related filings. According to The Hill, after CNN was kept off the plane last week, the outlets’ attorney asked the judge to rule on pool access in particular.
The precedent comes from the Associated Press. The White House shut the AP out of the Oval Office, Air Force One and other spaces after the agency’s stylebook kept using “Gulf of Mexico” instead of “Gulf of America.” The Hill dated that ban to “earlier this year,” but it began in February 2025. In June 2025 a divided D.C. Circuit panel [allowed the administration to bar the AP](<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-bar-associated-press-white-house-events-now-appeals-court-rules-rcna211543>) from those spaces for the time being, finding that they are not public forums. The AP’s [appeal is still pending](<https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69869862/associated-press-v-taylor-budowich/>). A September post on the legal blog the Volokh Conspiracy argued that, under that ruling, Trump can [very likely keep CNN off the plane](<https://reason.com/volokh/2026/09/26/may-president-trump-exclude-cnn-from-air-force-one-very-likely-yes/>).
Ted Boutrous, the lawyer for the three outlets, disagrees. “The law is absolutely clear. The harm to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound,” he said. “It is critical that the White House is enjoined to keep this unconstitutional ban on the free press out of commission.” CNN reported that Monday’s exclusion will probably be included in the outlets’ next court filing.
On Thursday Judge Kelly is scheduled to hear the outlets’ request for a preliminary injunction, which would protect their access for longer while the case moves toward a possible trial. Until then, the White House decides who boards the plane. On Monday’s flight to Nebraska, there was no primary print pooler.