Major US television networks have suspended pooled coverage of President Donald Trump after the White House barred CNN, Politico and MS NOW, escalating a dispute that has now moved into the federal courts.
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News declined to replace CNN in the television pool after the network was prevented from carrying out its scheduled duties during Trump’s trip to New York for the UN General Assembly. CNN is itself one of the five networks that normally rotate responsibility for filming the president and distributing footage to other broadcasters.
The Trump press pool boycott meant there was no regular network television footage of the president boarding Air Force One or arriving in New York on Monday.
The dispute began after Trump announced on Friday that CNN, Politico and MS NOW would be barred from the White House, accusing the organisations of producing “fiction or lies” about his administration. Their journalists were subsequently denied access to the White House grounds and had their press credentials confiscated.
Networks refuse to replace CNN in press pool
The White House television pool allows networks to rotate responsibility for filming presidential events, with the resulting footage distributed among other news organisations. The arrangement limits the number of journalists and camera crews required in restricted spaces while ensuring independent footage remains available to the wider media.
Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, serving in a rotating role helping organise television crews covering the White House, informed journalists that the TV pool would stop covering events designated as pooled presidential coverage.
“There will be no replacement pool put in place,” the memo said.
The decision followed the White House preventing CNN from fulfilling its scheduled pool duties for Trump’s New York trip. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News joined the suspension rather than provide another network to replace CNN. Other pool operations, including coverage of Congress and certain events around Washington, were not affected.
The five television pool members said in a joint statement that the public had a “vital interest” in receiving accurate and independent information about its government and argued that administrations should not restrict organisations because they object to their reporting.
Some print organisations also joined the protest. The Washington Post withheld photographs from Trump’s presidential events on Monday until midnight, as photographers and newsrooms coordinated their response to the restrictions.
Some Trump events left without independent TV footage
The consequences of the Trump press pool boycott were immediately visible.
Trump’s departure aboard Air Force One and arrival in New York for the UN General Assembly went without the normal network pool footage.
He also attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Marine One helipad on the White House South Lawn. The White House streamed the event itself, but the president’s comments were inaudible in the feed.
Trump later appeared before television cameras following a meeting with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who said all members of the media would be welcome at the subsequent press conference.
“It’s interesting because, they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me, so I wasn’t very worried about that. Look at all that press,” Trump said.
CNN, Politico and MS NOW take White House to court
CNN, Politico and MS NOW filed a federal lawsuit in Washington on Monday challenging the decision to revoke their journalists’ White House access.
The case alleges violations of both the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and the press, and the Fifth Amendment’s due process protections. The organisations are seeking expedited judicial intervention and restoration of their access.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,” the three organisations said in a joint statement.
“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.”
The individual journalists named as plaintiffs are CNN’s Betsy Klein, MS NOW’s Akayla Gardner and Politico’s Cheyenne Haslett. Trump and senior administration officials are named as defendants in their official capacities.
The White House has defended the restrictions. In response to the lawsuit, the administration said White House access was a privilege rather than a right.
Trump also defended his decision on Truth Social, saying his administration was not attacking the free press but what he calls “fake news”, which he described as a threat to national security.
Judge previously ruled in CNN’s favour
The new lawsuit has been assigned to US District Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump appointee who dealt with an earlier confrontation between the president and CNN during Trump’s first term.
In 2018, Kelly granted CNN’s request for a temporary restraining order restoring White House correspondent Jim Acosta’s press credentials after the administration revoked them. The White House subsequently restored Acosta’s access and CNN dropped the case.
Trump criticised Kelly after learning that the new case had been assigned to him, noting on Truth Social that he had appointed the judge himself and suggesting that the administration would appeal if it lost.
The latest confrontation also follows changes Trump made to White House media access after returning to office. The administration took control of selecting members of the press pool from the White House Correspondents’ Association, which had managed the system independently for decades. The five television networks had continued their normal rotation until CNN was removed.
White House launches 24-hour Trump TV
As the confrontation with the media intensified, the White House launched “Trump TV: The Essentials Station”, a round-the-clock online stream featuring presidential appearances, administration announcements, previous speeches and selected highlights.
The service went live on Monday, the same day the television pool suspended its presidential coverage and CNN, Politico and MS NOW filed their lawsuit.
The result is an unusual split in presidential coverage: the established television pool has stopped providing its shared independent feed of Trump events, while the White House is operating its own continuous video stream.
For the television networks, the dispute centres on whether the administration can exclude one of their pool members because of its journalism. For the White House, the argument is that access to presidential spaces is discretionary and that the administration is entitled to restrict organisations it accuses of inaccurate coverage.
The courts will now consider the constitutional arguments as the media dispute moves from the White House briefing room into federal court.
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