CNN has been barred from flying on Air Force One for President Donald Trump's trip to Knoxville, Tennessee, marking the latest escalation in an ongoing dispute between the White House and major media organizations.

The White House signaled Friday night that CNN would be left off the presidential aircraft for Trump's Saturday visit to attend a college football game between the University of Tennessee and the University of Texas at Neyland Stadium. CNN was replaced by Real America's Voice News, a conservative outlet that is not a member of the established White House press pool.

The spot aboard Air Force One has long been reserved for a rotating member of the US network video pool, a group of five major broadcast outlets — CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC — that take turns recording and distributing video to the broader press corps.

Last week, Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds, accusing them of writing "fiction or lies" about his administration. All three outlets said they were pursuing legal action, accusing the administration of violating their First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of the press.

"Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference," the three outlets said in a joint statement.

In a show of solidarity, the four other pool providers — ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC — declined to participate in pool duties until access was restored.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly temporarily struck down the White House ban in an overnight ruling early Thursday, saying the government's argument lacked "factual support" for its claim that the outlets were barred on national security grounds.

"Defendants offer no declarations or other support — classified or unclassified — explaining how any of the reporting they identified in their letters to Plaintiffs damaged the national security," Kelly wrote in his ruling.

The judge's decision addressed press passes to the White House grounds but did not directly address pool duties or access to Air Force One.

Earlier on Friday, the outlets' attorney, Theodore Boutrous Jr., said on CNN that the plaintiffs believe the court ruling also covers the issue of pool access. He did not immediately respond to requests for further comment on the Air Force One decision.

Following the judge's ruling, journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to the White House on Friday. For a period during the day, the US network video pool was back in operation for the first time since the ban. CNN aired live footage of Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping touring the National Archives, accompanied by Melania Trump and Xi's wife, Peng Liyuan.

However, the White House still denied entry to some CNN and MS NOW reporters assigned to cover arrivals for a state dinner for Xi on Thursday.

A White House communications account posted on X that "contrary to what the Fake News wants you to believe, they don't just get to have free rein into every part of the White House, every event, and every press call."

The press pool was established decades ago by the White House Correspondents' Association to ensure a rotating roster of journalists always travels with the president and distributes reports and imagery to the wider press corps.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision to remove CNN from the Air Force One manifest.