TV Networks To Skip White House Video Coverage In Solidarity With CNN

The television press pool covering the White House’s daily events will reportedly halt coverage in protest of President Donald Trump’s decision to bar CNN from participating.

Bryan Boughton, who runs the Fox News Washington bureau and is the current TV pool chair, announced the decision Monday morning in an email that was obtained by The Washington Post and CNN.

“This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,” the email stated. “This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.”

CNN had been scheduled for TV pool duties this week. These duties are rotated among ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News.

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

All five networks slammed the news ban in a joint statement on Monday morning.

“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 read.

Trump’s first open press event on Monday is a White House ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for 1:45 p.m. Eastern.

CNN’s chief media analyst Brian Stelter said he believes the other networks are banding together “because they know they could be next.”

“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,” he said.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico all had their White House press access revoked by Trump after he objected to their reporting, which he called “FICTION and LIES.”

“I don’t want them in my office. I don’t want them here. I would say the ban would go as far as you can,” he told reporters on Friday.

The three news outlets filed a lawsuit on Monday over the ban, saying they intend to “protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.”

“Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” they said in a statement on the filing.