By Sabiu Abdullahi
Five major United States television networks have suspended their pooled coverage of President Donald Trump after the White House barred CNN from carrying out its scheduled role as the television pool provider.
ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News and CNN jointly announced the decision on Monday, September 21, 2026, following the Trump administration’s move to prevent CNN from participating in the rotating pool system.
The decision means that the major networks will not provide the usual shared television footage of Trump’s presidential events for the time being, including his engagements at the White House and his trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
The five networks defended the importance of independent media coverage in a joint statement.
“The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,” they said.
“No administration should restrict a news organisation because it objects to its reporting.”
The action came after the White House removed CNN from its scheduled pool assignment for Monday. CNN had been due to provide the rotating television coverage, under an arrangement through which the five networks take turns recording presidential events and distributing the footage to other broadcasters.
Bryan Boughton, Fox News’ Washington bureau chief and chair of the television pool, notified other members of the arrangement that no replacement would be provided for CNN.
“This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President. This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its duties,” Boughton wrote in an email.
The television pool is designed to allow one designated network to cover presidential events with cameras and share the resulting footage with other news organisations. The arrangement is particularly important for events where physical space limits the number of journalists and camera crews that can participate.
The dispute follows the Trump administration’s decision to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.
The three media organisations subsequently filed a lawsuit against Trump and senior White House officials in a federal court in Washington, alleging that their exclusion violated constitutional protections for freedom of speech and the press.
The outlets are seeking a temporary restraining order that would restore their access to the White House while the legal challenge proceeds.
Trump has defended his administration’s action, accusing the affected organisations of publishing what he described as “fake news” and arguing that the White House has the right to restrict access.
Vice President JD Vance also defended the administration’s position, saying the White House was not banning media organisations but was declining to provide special access to outlets it believed were engaging in propaganda.
However, the networks’ decision to suspend the television pool has created an unusual situation in which the five broadcasters that normally share responsibility for filming Trump’s presidential engagements have declined to provide a replacement crew.
The suspension could limit the availability of pooled television footage of Trump’s public engagements, including his activities surrounding the UN General Assembly in New York. Other journalists may still cover the events, but the normal shared television feed will not be available through the five-network pool.
The latest confrontation is part of a wider dispute between the Trump administration and several US media organisations over press access to the White House.
The legal challenge by CNN, MS NOW and Politico now places the dispute before the courts, while the decision by the five major television networks has intensified the standoff over media access and presidential coverage.
