Five Networks, Including Fox News, Suspend Pooled TV Coverage of Trump After White House Bars CNN

WASHINGTON — The five television networks that share White House pool duty — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC — suspended pooled coverage of President Donald Trump on Monday after the White House blocked CNN from serving as the day’s designated pool crew. Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, the rotating chair of the TV pool, told members there would be no replacement crew for events designated as presidential pool coverage.

“This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties,” Boughton wrote. “There will be no replacement pool put in place. All other pool coverage will continue as normal,” including Congress and other Washington events. CNN had been scheduled to cover Trump’s travel to New York for the U.N. General Assembly and provide the shared live feed used by stations and outlets worldwide. Sunday-night White House guidance listed no TV pooler. The White House continues to stream its own video of events.

The five networks issued a joint statement: “The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.” The stand came the same day CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued the administration over a ban Trump announced Friday on Truth Social, accusing the outlets of “FAKE NEWS.” Reporters from the three organizations were turned away Saturday and had credentials confiscated. They argue the exclusion is viewpoint discrimination that violates the First Amendment. White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox News correspondent, said access cannot be denied arbitrarily or based on the content of reporting. Trump has said the White House is not attacking the free press and has suggested other outlets could face similar limits.

The pool system dates to a rotation among the broadcast networks; CNN joined after a 1981 lawsuit against the Reagan administration and the then-three networks. Fox later entered the rotation. Without a network pool camera, independent video of close-in events such as Oval Office sessions and travel will be thinner unless individual outlets arrange their own access. The lawsuit and the networks’ refusal to fill CNN’s slot leave the standoff unresolved as Trump meets world leaders in New York.

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Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN Suspend Trump TV Pool After CNN Ban

Five networks halted pooled presidential TV coverage after the White House blocked CNN from Monday pool duty. Fox’s Bryan Boughton said no replacement crew would cover Trump events, including U.N. travel, as CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued over the ban.