White House Excludes Politico from Air Force One Press Pool

By Staff, Agencies

The White House on Monday barred Politico from traveling aboard Air Force One, preventing the outlet from carrying out its duties as part of the presidential press pool, CNN reported.

A Politico spokesperson confirmed that the news organization had been excluded from the group of reporters selected to accompany President Donald Trump during out-of-town travel.

Trump was scheduled to travel Monday afternoon to Nebraska for a campaign event.

The decision is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between the Trump administration and several media organizations. On September 18, Trump announced that Politico, CNN and MS NOW would be barred from the White House, accusing the outlets of producing what he called “fake news.”

Three days later, the three news organizations filed a lawsuit against the administration, arguing that the restrictions violated constitutional protections, including the First Amendment’s press freedoms and the Fifth Amendment’s due-process protections.

Federal Judge Timothy J. Kelly subsequently issued a temporary restraining order directing the administration to restore the journalists’ White House press credentials.

The temporary order is scheduled to expire Thursday. The three outlets have asked the judge to extend the order while their legal challenge proceeds.