Topline
President Donald Trump blocked Politico from traveling with him aboard Air Force One on Monday, despite a judge ordering his administration to reinstate its White House press access—though the Trump administration argues the order doesn’t apply to Air Force One and other exclusive spaces.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on October 05, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Key Facts
Politico was scheduled to be the designated print pooler traveling to Nebraska with the president for a campaign event Monday.
It’s unclear if another publication will replace Politico as the assigned outlet tasked with sharing its coverage with other print outlets.
The move comes after Trump has repeatedly barred Politico, CNN and MS NOW from certain White House events and Air Force One, despite U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordering Trump to reinstate their White House hard passes last month after Trump abruptly revoked them.
The White House has claimed the order only applies to White House grounds, with spokesperson Steven Cheung telling Time magazine in an interview published last week, “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.”
The judge didn’t explicitly address which spaces his order applied to when granting the media outlets’ request for a temporary injunction, but said it was designed to “preserve the last uncontested status quo while the litigation proceeds.”
What To Watch For
A hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday.
Tangent
An appeals court upheld a lower court decision allowing Trump to restrict the Associated Press’ access to certain exclusive spaces, such as the Oval Ooffice or Air Force One, but required it to restore access to the White House grounds. The White House began banning the AP from events over its refusal to rename the Gulf of Mexico as “The Gulf of America” in its stylebook.
Key Background
The Justice Department on Friday asked a court to reinstate Trump’s ban on the three outlets, arguing again that the outlets threatened national security by publishing “misinformation.” Kelly previously dismissed that argument, writing that “the Court is skeptical . . . that Defendants’ interest in safeguarding national security is the actual motivation for, or is even advanced by, the revocation of Plaintiffs’ hard passes.” Kelly also wrote that the White House likely violated the outlets’ right to due process by giving them no formal advance notice of its intention to revoke their hard passes and the opportunity to object.
further reading
Trump Without TV Pool On Big Travel Day After Banning CNN Again (Forbes)
‘What Order?’: Trump Says ‘He’s Not Even Aware’ What Judge’s Order Lifting Media Ban Means (Forbes)
Networks Resume Pool Coverage Of Trump Today—After CNN And MS NOW Blocked From Xi’s State Dinner (Forbes)
Leave a comment