Donald Trump may have just learned the hard way that kicking one network out of the White House press pool because he doesn’t like how it covers the news can have consequences.
The White House blocked CNN from performing its scheduled television pool duties this week.
So, in an extraordinary show of solidarity, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News have suspended their pooled television coverage of Trump’s events.
Bryan Boughton, Fox News’ Washington bureau chief and current chair of the TV pool, announced the decision Monday morning in an email obtained by CNN and The Washington Post.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” Boughton wrote. “This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.”
That last sentence is the part the White House probably didn’t want to hear:
The five networks normally rotate responsibility for providing cameras and distributing the footage to other news organizations. CNN was scheduled to handle the pool this week.
Instead, the administration’s decision to keep CNN out has resulted in none of the five networks providing the pool coverage.
The networks made their position clear in a joint statement Monday.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” they said. “No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.”
The consequences could be immediate.
Trump’s first open press event Monday was scheduled to be a White House ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1:45 p.m. Eastern. The suspension also affects presidential travel and other events that normally rely on pooled television coverage. Trump’s trip to the United Nations, for example, was expected to proceed without the usual pooled TV video.
CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter said the other networks may be standing together because they understand that the same restrictions could eventually be directed at them.
“I’ve been hearing from top editors and newsroom leaders all across the U.S. who believe this is an important moment to draw a line and stand firm,” Stelter said.
The confrontation follows Trump’s decision last week to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.
Trump accused the outlets of publishing “FICTION and LIES” and warned that other news organizations could face similar restrictions.
“I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here,” Trump told reporters Friday, saying he wanted the ban to go “as far as you can.”
Now the three outlets are fighting back in court.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico announced Monday that they were filing a federal lawsuit challenging the White House’s decision. They say their journalists’ access was revoked without notice or process because the administration objected to their reporting.
The organizations are asking a court to restore their access and argue that the ban violates their First Amendment rights. Their lawsuit also raises a Fifth Amendment due-process claim.
“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.
Watch the report below from CNN:
Viewers have been asking me if the other major TV networks will stand in solidarity with CNN over the president's ban. The answer is yes: pic.twitter.com/FYCpezlApI
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 21, 2026
