CNN Threatens New Legal Action Against Trump White House Over Air Force One Access

CNN is threatening to take the Trump administration back to court over its continued exclusion from Air Force One press coverage, giving the White House until Thursday to end the restrictions or face further legal action.In a letter to the Justice Department, CNN attorney Ted Boutrous accused the administration of retaliating against the network over its reporting and demanded written confirmation by 5 p.m. ET Thursday that the White House would abandon the restrictions, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported Tuesday. “These efforts to retaliate and discriminate against CNN based on the content of its news coverage are mistaken, counterproductive, and unlawful,” Boutrous wrote, per CNN. The warning marks another escalation in the network’s ongoing legal battle with President Donald Trump, coming just a week after a federal judge blocked the administration from reinstating its ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico. While the three outlets have regained access to White House grounds, the ruling does not guarantee their participation in presidential press pools, leaving a central part of the dispute unresolved. A White House official defended the restrictions in a statement to TheWrap on Tuesday. “No person and no journalist have a constitutional right to access to the President’s Oval Office, Air Force One, or other sensitive and private facilities,” they shared in a statement. “When publications lie, fabricate, and ignore the truth, proximity matters less and they can write their fiction from outside of these secure facilities.” CNN has repeatedly been prevented from traveling aboard Air Force One when scheduled to serve as the TV pool representative. The dispute comes amid a separate legal battle involving The Associated Press over access to limited-capacity presidential spaces, including Air Force One and the Oval Office. Boutrous challenged the administration’s position, arguing that those settings are among the primary places where Trump interacts with reporters. Citing figures in his letter, he said the president has fielded more than 4,700 questions in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One and on the tarmac during his second term, compared with roughly 150 in the White House briefing room. “Those spaces belong not to any particular president or administration but to all Americans,” Boutrous wrote, adding that journalists serve as surrogates for the public. The Trump administration appealed last week’s preliminary injunction on Wednesday, though the order protecting the three outlets’ White House credentials remains in effect while the case proceeds. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. “If these actions persist,” Boutrous warned, “CNN will have no choice but to return to the court to defend its rights, and it is prepared to fight as long as is necessary to secure them.”