Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the White House’s decision to remove CNN from its scheduled television pool assignment aboard Air Force One. The network had been set to cover President Donald Trump’s Saturday trip to a college football game in Knoxville, Tennessee.

On ABC’s “This Week,” Blanche said, “The president has every right to decide who gets to fly on his plane, and it is national security, especially on Air Force One, and especially at the White House. It’s not just the fact that they refuse to report anything accurately.”

Blanche did not directly explain how CNN’s coverage of Trump attending the game between the top ranked Texas Longhorns and Tennessee would affect national security. Instead, he tied the administration’s security concerns to its complaints about reporting it considers inaccurate.

The Justice Department offered the same national security argument in federal court last week while defending previous White House restrictions on CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Those three news organizations had been prohibited from entering the White House grounds for nearly a week.

That argument did not persuade U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly. He ordered the White House to temporarily restore the news organizations’ press credentials while litigation over the access restrictions proceeds.

The administration’s national security claim differs from Trump’s own public explanations for restricting press access. Trump has repeatedly blamed reporting he considers inaccurate, asking why “perpetrators of FAKE NEWS, like CNN and MSDNC” should receive White House access and saying he wants “real news, not fake news” covering his administration.

CNN said the White House blocked its crew from boarding Air Force One for Trump’s Saturday trip. The decision prevented CNN from carrying out its assigned television pool responsibilities while Trump traveled to attend the college football game.

CNN is one of five major television networks that jointly determine the daily rotation for White House pool coverage. After CNN was removed, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News each declined to replace the network in the rotation, temporarily stopping independent video pool coverage for the trip.

White House television pool camera coverage resumed Sunday. A Fox News crew followed Trump during his visit to a golf tournament outside Chicago.

Blanche told ABC’s Martha Raddatz that the White House remained within its rights to deny CNN a place aboard the executive jet. He still did not directly connect coverage of the football trip to the administration’s national security agenda.

Blanche said, “At some point, complete misinformation and the inaccuracy of one-sided news of certain organizations does become a national security issue.” His comments continued the administration’s effort to frame its dissatisfaction with coverage as a security concern.

“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 added.

Raddatz pressed Blanche about the standards that news organizations would have to meet to obtain access to Trump’s White House or Air Force One in the future. Blanche said determining those standards was not his decision.

He nevertheless repeated Trump’s demand for coverage the president considers accurate. Blanche maintained that the administration was not simply requiring favorable stories or coverage designed to benefit Republicans.

“It doesn’t have to be positive. It doesn’t have to be something that just makes Republicans look good,” Blanche said.

“But it has to be fair and balanced, and that’s what the president expects,” he added.