'The president has every right': Todd Blanche defends Trump's Air Force One press restrictions

WASHINGTON, DC: Attorney General Todd Blanche defended President Donald Trump's decision to remove CNN from the Air Force One press pool, arguing that the president has the right to choose which reporters travel with him.

Blanche said inaccurate reporting could become a national security issue, while maintaining that access to the White House is a privilege rather than a right.

He made the remarks on Sunday, September 27, during an interview with ABC News' Martha Raddatz on ‘This Week’, as the administration faced a separate legal challenge over its broader media restrictions.

Todd Blanche says Trump can choose Air Force One reporters

"The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane," Blanche told Raddatz, defending the White House's decision to exclude CNN from the television press pool covering Trump's trip to Tennessee.

CNN had been scheduled to provide pool coverage for the president's visit to Knoxville on Saturday, but the White House removed the network from that role. 

The rotating pool allows journalists to share video and information with other news outlets when space is limited.

Blanche argued that deciding which reporters travel with the president is a routine White House responsibility.

He also said the decision was not an isolated denial of access to CNN.

"It's not unusual, and as a matter of fact, it's common every time the president travels that he and his team decide which reporters get to travel with the president," he said.

He rejected the suggestion that the decision was solely about CNN's reporting, arguing that inaccurate information from news outlets could affect the country's relationships with foreign governments and adversaries.

"When you have complete misinformation coming out of the White House, that affects our relationship with our foreign partners, that affects our relationship with our foreign enemies," Blanche said.

Judge questioned ban's national security basis as Blanche cited ongoing litigation

Blanche's defense came as the administration faced a separate court fight over Trump's attempt to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from accessing the White House.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the broader ban and ordered the administration to restore the outlets' press credentials. 

The judge found the ban likely violated the reporters' constitutional due process rights.

Raddatz cited the judge's written order, which questioned the administration's national security argument.

The judge said the record contained no evidence predating the lawsuit that the revocation of press credentials was motivated by national security concerns.

The judge also noted that Trump had focused on the outlets' alleged lack of truthfulness and negative reporting when announcing the ban.

Blanche declined to discuss the judge's reasoning, emphasizing that the litigation was ongoing. 

He maintained that the administration's position was that inaccurate reporting could become a national security concern.

"The judge issued a temporary order. It's not final. The litigation is ongoing," he said.

He added that the administration expected news outlets to provide reporting that was accurate and fair, rather than necessarily positive toward the president or Republicans.

CNN's removal triggered a television pool boycott

The dispute over CNN's access also led the other four major television networks, CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox News, to boycott the press pool in solidarity with the network.

The White House had announced on Friday that CNN would no longer serve as the television pool reporter for Trump's Tennessee visit. 

Without a replacement, the decision meant there would be no television pool coverage of the trip.

Fox News anchor and White House Correspondents' Association President Jacqui Heinrich described the role of the pool in comments to CNN.

"That's the system that allows the networks to share video of the president with the whole country. If they aren't there, the pool can't function," Heinrich said.

Although the judge's ruling came on Thursday, the networks did not return to the pool until a day later.

They said they wanted to ensure the White House would acknowledge the court's decision regarding television coverage.

During the interview, Blanche also defended the administration's position that press access to the White House was a privilege. 

He said the president had a duty to ensure Americans received accurate information, while Raddatz challenged his claims about the media and the national security justification for restricting access.