The White House is again preventing CNN from carrying out its scheduled role in the television press pool covering President Donald Trump, despite a federal judge’s temporary order restoring access to CNN and two other news organizations barred by the administration earlier this month.

CNN had been scheduled to provide television pool coverage Thursday as Trump travels to Texas and Oklahoma, but the network was omitted from the pool guidance distributed by the White House on Wednesday evening. No substitute television pool camera is expected to accompany the president on the trip.

The latest move comes less than a week after U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order requiring the administration to restore White House credentials to CNN, MS NOW and Politico while their legal challenge proceeds. That order is currently scheduled to remain in effect through Oct. 8.

The White House did not immediately comment on the decision to exclude CNN from Thursday’s pool assignment.

The dispute began Sept. 18, when Trump announced that CNN, MS NOW and Politico would be barred from the White House, accusing the three organizations of publishing “fake news” and arguing that their reporting posed national security concerns. Reporters from the organizations were denied entry to White House grounds beginning the following day.

Trump defended the action at the time, writing, “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.”

The ban prompted a sharp response from news organizations and the White House Correspondents’ Association. It also led to an unusual show of solidarity among the five television networks that traditionally rotate responsibility for providing pooled video coverage of the president: CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC and CBS.

The networks temporarily suspended their presidential television pool operation rather than replace CNN when it was CNN’s scheduled turn. Other forms of pooled coverage continued.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico then filed suit against the administration, arguing that they had been targeted because of their reporting and that the White House had violated both their First Amendment rights and their Fifth Amendment right to due process.

During a hearing on the case, Kelly pointed to longstanding federal court precedent requiring the government to provide due process before revoking a journalist’s White House access.

Two days later, Kelly granted temporary relief to the three organizations and ordered their credentials restored. The judge concluded that the outlets were likely to prevail on their due-process claim, finding that their journalists had not received adequate notice or an opportunity to respond before their credentials were taken away.

The ruling did not finally resolve the broader First Amendment dispute over whether the administration’s actions amounted to unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination. That question remains part of the ongoing litigation.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico subsequently returned to the White House grounds, but the restoration of their credentials did not end the battle over CNN’s role in the television pool.

Tensions erupted again over the weekend when Trump traveled to Tennessee for a college football game. CNN was scheduled to serve as the television pool outlet that day, but the network was not permitted to send its journalists aboard Air Force One.

That incident helped prompt the three news organizations to return to court this week seeking a preliminary injunction that would keep the administration from reinstating its ban while the lawsuit is litigated.

In their latest court filing, attorneys for CNN, MS NOW and Politico accused the White House of applying its restrictions selectively even after Kelly’s order.

“The White House’s words and actions leave little doubt that it will immediately reinstitute a complete ban of CNN, MS NOW, and POLITICO if allowed the opportunity.”

The organizations are asking Kelly to preserve the access they had before Trump announced the ban, rather than allow the temporary restraining order to expire Oct. 8 while the larger case remains unresolved.

CNN also argued that the administration has been granting access to Trump and his daily activities “unpredictably and inconsistently,” causing continuing harm to its ability to cover the president.

The original lawsuit alleges that Trump’s decision constituted viewpoint discrimination, arguing that the administration punished the organizations because it objected to the substance and tone of their reporting.

The White House has taken a different position, maintaining that access to the president and White House grounds is a privilege rather than an unrestricted right and that the administration retains authority over who is permitted into sensitive areas.

Attorney General Todd Blanche defended that position over the weekend, saying, “When it comes to the White House, it is the people’s house. It is a privilege, and not a right, to be there.”

The legal fight also comes against the backdrop of a significant change Trump made to White House media operations during his second administration. In 2025, the White House took control of selecting members of the presidential press pool away from the White House Correspondents’ Association, giving the administration greater authority over which organizations receive coveted access to smaller presidential events.

The traditional five-network television rotation initially continued despite that change, making the dispute over CNN particularly significant for the television pool system.

The administration is now required to respond to the news organizations’ latest court filing by Friday, setting up another round in the rapidly escalating legal battle over who gets to cover the president — and under what conditions.