Major TV networks suspend White House pool coverage after Trump ban - USA Today
WASHINGTON — Major television networks suspended their White House pool coverage and will no longer send camera crews to cover President Donald Trump's pool events, standing in solidarity with CNN after Trump denied White House access to reporters for three outlets.
The move from the five networks that make up the television pool ‒ ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News, in addition to CNN ‒ means a broadcast television feed that is distributed widely for media won't be carried for most of Trump's events.
Bryan Boughton, D.C. bureau chief of Fox News and chair of the television pool, relayed the decision in a Sept. 21 email to pool members.
"This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties," Boughton said in the email, which was obtained by USA TODAY. "There will be no replacement pool put in place."
The networks' decision to pull out of the pool comes after reporters for MS NOW, CNN and Politico were denied entry into the White House over the weekend as Trump's White House ban on the three outlets went into effect.
The White House pool, which rotates daily, is composed of a small group of reporters given close face-to-face access to the president during events. The pool includes one network camera crew, which broadcasts a television feed that is shared with other networks.
The White House streams its own feed of Trump's events ‒ and will continue to do so ‒ but television networks rely on the pool feed for their video content.
With the networks backing out of pool coverage, no television crews are scheduled to travel with Trump as he heads to New York for the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.
In response to the networks' decision, a White House official said the media has no place "demanding a spot in the President’s Oval Office," adding that journalists are capable of reporting from directly outside the White House.
Separate from the pool's action, CNN, MS NOW and Politico joined with each other in a federal lawsuit filed Monday against Trump in a bid to regain access to the White House after reporters from each outlet were denied entry over the weekend.
The suit argues Trump's ban on the three outlets denies reporters their First Amendment rights to a free press under the Constitution and their right to due process under the 14th Amendment.
Vice President JD Vance, speaking to reporters before heading to Greensboro, North Carolina, disputed that Trump's action bans media outlets ‒ even though Trump has described it as a "ban on the free press."
"He's not banning media outlets. What he's doing is saying we're not going to give you special access to the White House if you engage in what is effectively propaganda," Vance said, alleging that 92% of the stories from CNN, MS NOW and Politico about Trump are "negative."
"That's not representative of the American people. It's not representative of public opinion," Vance said.
Trump, in a Monday post on Truth Social, defended his ban. "The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America."
