The White House barred Politico from traveling aboard Air Force One on Monday despite a federal judge’s order restoring the outlet’s White House credentials, sharpening a legal dispute over whether access to the president’s traveling press pool is covered by the same constitutional protections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
WASHINGTON — The White House blocked Politico from traveling aboard Air Force One on Monday, preventing the publication from serving as the designated print pool representative on President Donald Trump’s trip to Nebraska as a broader court fight over presidential press access continues.
A Politico spokesperson confirmed that the publication was excluded from the out-of-town travel pool, the small rotating group of reporters assigned to accompany the president and share information with the wider White House press corps.
The exclusion came less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly ordered the administration to restore White House press credentials to Politico, CNN and MS NOW following Trump’s Sept. 18 announcement that he was banning the three outlets from White House access.
The three news organizations sued Sept. 21, alleging that the administration violated the First and Fifth Amendments by revoking access because of their coverage.
Kelly granted a temporary restraining order Sept. 24 requiring the administration to reinstate the journalists’ White House credentials for 14 days.
The judge concluded that the outlets had shown a likelihood of success on their Fifth Amendment procedural due-process claim and found that the government had offered little evidence that the ban was genuinely based on national-security concerns.
The ruling, however, did not expressly resolve a separate question now at the center of the dispute: whether restoring a journalist’s White House credential also requires the administration to include that outlet in restricted-capacity presidential events or on Air Force One.
The White House has taken the position that it does not.
Communications Director Steven Cheung said last week that the court order restored access to the White House complex but did not necessarily guarantee participation in the rotating press pool.
“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,” Cheung said.
That distinction has already affected CNN.
Since Kelly issued his order, the White House has repeatedly prevented CNN from performing its scheduled role as television pool representative on Air Force One, according to reporting on the case.
Politico’s exclusion Monday extended that dispute to the print pool.
Under longstanding White House press arrangements, pool reporters serve a broader function than ordinary individual coverage.
Because space around the president is frequently limited, selected reporters, photographers and television crews rotate through events and travel assignments and distribute their observations, quotes and other information to the larger press corps.
Politico had been scheduled to fill the print role during Monday’s trip.
By preventing its reporter from boarding Air Force One, the White House also prevented the publication from carrying out that scheduled pool responsibility.
It was not immediately clear which outlet, if any, replaced Politico in that role.
The administration has not publicly explained Monday’s decision in detail.
Trump announced Sept. 18 that Politico, CNN and MS NOW would no longer be permitted at the White House, accusing the organizations of false reporting.
The administration subsequently argued in court that the restrictions were justified in part by national-security concerns.
Kelly, a Trump appointee, questioned that explanation.
In his order, the judge wrote that nothing in the record predating the lawsuit indicated that national security had actually motivated the credential revocations.
“For one thing, nothing in the record that predates this suit suggests that the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes was motivated by national security concerns,” Kelly wrote.
The judge did not make a final ruling on all of the outlets’ constitutional claims.
Instead, he temporarily restored their credentials while the lawsuit proceeds.
The outlets are now asking Kelly for a preliminary injunction that would preserve their access for a longer period while the case moves toward a potential trial.
A hearing on that request is scheduled for Thursday.
Ted Boutrous, an attorney representing CNN, MS NOW and Politico, said the dispute involves fundamental press protections.
“The law is absolutely clear. The harm to our clients, the First Amendment, and the public as a whole is profound,” Boutrous said.
“It is critical that the White House is enjoined to keep this unconstitutional ban on the free press out of commission.”
The administration disputes the outlets’ interpretation of the law and has defended the president’s authority to determine access to limited spaces and presidential events.
That argument raises a legal question distinct from whether the government may revoke an otherwise valid White House credential without due process.
The Supreme Court has not directly established that every credentialed reporter has a constitutional right to travel aboard Air Force One or attend every limited-capacity presidential event.
But federal courts have recognized due-process protections once the government establishes a system of White House press credentials.
That precedent traces in part to Sherrill v. Knight, a 1977 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit requiring the government to apply clear standards and procedural protections before denying White House press access.
The Trump administration has indicated in the current litigation that it wants courts to reconsider parts of that nearly 50-year-old precedent.
The dispute also resembles an ongoing lawsuit involving The Associated Press.
The White House restricted AP access to certain presidential events and spaces after the news organization continued referring to the Gulf of Mexico by that name following Trump’s executive order directing the federal government to use “Gulf of America.”
The AP challenged those restrictions in federal court, arguing the government could not penalize a news organization based on editorial choices.
That litigation likewise raised the distinction between holding general White House credentials and obtaining access to smaller presidential events where space is controlled by the administration.
The latest conflict began when Trump publicly singled out CNN, MS NOW and Politico in September.
The outlets responded by suing the president and administration officials, arguing that the restrictions amounted to retaliation for protected reporting and that journalists received no adequate notice or opportunity to challenge the decision before losing access.
Kelly’s temporary order restored their hard passes, and the White House eventually allowed the reporters back onto White House grounds.
There was initially further friction after the order was issued.
Reporters from all three organizations were briefly denied entry despite the court’s ruling, prompting the outlets to seek an emergency hearing.
The White House later said the credentials had been restored and were available for pickup, and the journalists returned to the complex.
The travel-pool dispute remained unresolved.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to court Sept. 29 seeking a longer-lasting injunction against the administration’s restrictions.
They argue that restoring a physical credential while excluding their journalists from important parts of presidential coverage leaves significant portions of the original ban effectively intact.
The administration argues that entry to the White House complex and participation in the pool are separate decisions.
Monday’s treatment of Politico brings that disagreement into sharper focus.
A reporter with a restored credential can enter the White House, but under the administration’s current position, the president may still deny that outlet a seat on Air Force One or access to a limited event even when the outlet is scheduled to serve as the pool representative.
The courts have not yet issued a final answer on whether that distinction is legally sustainable in the circumstances of this case.
The consequences extend beyond the three organizations involved.
The White House Correspondents’ Association relies on rotating pools so reporters who cannot physically accompany the president can still receive timely information about his statements, movements and activities.
Limiting a scheduled pool outlet therefore affects not only that organization’s own reporting but also information distributed to other members of the press.
Politico’s exclusion occurred as Trump traveled Monday to Nebraska for a campaign appearance.
The president has increasingly returned to the campaign trail ahead of the November midterm elections, making presidential travel coverage especially significant during the final weeks before voting.
The White House has not indicated how long Politico’s exclusion from Air Force One will continue.
Kelly is expected to consider the larger issue when he hears arguments Thursday on the outlets’ request for a preliminary injunction.
That hearing could determine whether the administration may continue drawing a distinction between general White House access and participation in the traveling and event pools while the lawsuit proceeds.
For now, Politico’s credentials have been restored under court order.
Its seat aboard Air Force One has not.
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