Major TV networks suspend WH pool coverage after Trump ban

In USA, relations between President Donald Trump and media has become very tense. Major US television networks have suspended their shared coverage of President Donald Trump after the White House barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from its grounds, accusing the outlets of publishing fake news. The ban has left a key gap in video coverage of the US President's public events.The decision was announced on Monday after CNN was prevented from carrying out its scheduled duties as part of the White House television pool. Fox News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News jointly said they would no longer provide the rotating pool coverage.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued President Donald Trump and other members of his administration on Monday for banning them from White House grounds, saying it violated their rights to free speech and a free press under the US Constitution’s First Amendment. The news outlets are seeking a temporary restraining order to block Trump’s action in federal court in Washington, D.C., and could see emergency hearings in the case as soon as this week.“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” the outlets wrote in a joint statement. “The government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.”
Trump announced the ban on Friday on social media and defended it in another post on Monday, claiming without evidence that news media posed a national security threat. “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,” Trump wrote on Monday. “It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”
CNN is one of the five news organizations – along with ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC – that make up the primary White House television pool. They share the costs of covering the president, take turns organizing coverage and share the footage with outlets around the country. Bryan Boughton, Fox News's D.C. bureau chief and chair of the television pool, communicated this determination through a September 21 email addressed to pool members. "This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties," Boughton stated in the email, as per USA TODAY. "There will be no replacement pool put in place."
Past presidents have battled with the press, but Trump’s campaign against the media has been unprecedented. He has upended decades of tradition by denying basic access to many major news organizations, launching personal attacks on journalists for their reporting and elevating new media outlets seen as more sympathetic to the administration. He has also filed a number of lawsuits against news organizations.
Trump long has been a critic of the press, rising to fame as a New York real estate developer widely covered in local tabloids, and then as a reality television personality. He has stepped up his assault on the media since winning a second term as president in 2024, suing multiple outlets and repeatedly urging broadcasters to drop programs he deems unfair. Trump has also called on the Federal Communications Commission to strip disfavored broadcast stations of their licenses, including several owned by or affiliated with ABC. Disney DIS.N owns ABC.