By The television networks responsible for providing shared footage of President Donald Trump have suspended their White House pool coverage after the administration prevented CNN from taking its scheduled turn covering the president.
CNN had been assigned to serve as the television pooler Monday as Trump traveled to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. But the White House blocked the network from performing those duties, extending Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico beyond access to the White House grounds and into the long-standing pool system used to cover the presidency.
The television pool consists of CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and Fox News, which rotate responsibility for providing video and audio from presidential events where space prevents the entire press corps from attending, according to CNBC. The footage is then distributed broadly to other news organizations.
Rather than allow another network to replace CNN in the rotation, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox agreed not to provide television pool coverage at all while CNN remains barred from fulfilling its assignment.
Bryan Boughton, Fox News’ Washington bureau chief and acting chairman of the television pool consortium, informed members of the decision in a note obtained by The Wall Street Journal.
“Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President.”
Trump made his first remarks without the TV pool and it is impossible to hear him through the White House feed. He is doing an unveiling of the new helipad just before Xi’s visit.
Nothing but static for 9 minutes and Trump is wheels up. pic.twitter.com/xpMqvA7SSJ
— Sophia Cai (@SophiaCai99) September 21, 2026
“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.”
“We will provide updates as this situation develops,” Boughton said.
Print reporters, photographers, wire services and radio journalists are expected to continue participating in their respective White House pools.
The five television networks also issued a joint statement defending the existing arrangement and opposing the administration’s decision to exclude CNN.
“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 statement said.
The showdown is the latest consequence of Trump’s decision Friday to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. The administration followed through Saturday, disabling credentials and denying reporters from all three organizations access to the grounds.
CNN’s exclusion raised an immediate question about the television pool because the network was already scheduled to handle Monday’s coverage. The five-network rotation provides footage from settings including the Oval Office, presidential travel and other events where only a limited number of journalists can be present.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico responded Monday by filing a federal lawsuit against Trump and members of his administration, arguing that excluding the organizations because of their coverage violates the First Amendment. The lawsuit seeks to restore their White House access.
The dispute now leaves the White House without the customary shared television coverage of some presidential events unless the administration and the five-network consortium resolve the fight over CNN’s participation.
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