Major US outlets suspend shared Trump coverage in protest at media ban

Major US television networks, including CNN, Politico, and MSNBC, suspended their shared coverage of President Donald Trump on Monday in response to a ban imposed by the White House. Trump accused the organizations of publishing "fiction or lies" about his administration, leading to their denial of access to the White House on Saturday.

The three media outlets have stated they will sue the Trump administration to defend the principle that the government does not dictate what the press reports. Following the ban, the White House launched its own streaming channel, Trump TV, which broadcasts a continuous feed of the president's statements. Several other US outlets, such as the New York Times and Washington Post, also announced they would not cover pooled events and refrain from sharing still images from Trump events on Monday.

Consequently, there was no network TV footage of Trump boarding Air Force One or arriving in New York for the UN general assembly. Trump attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new Marine One helipad on the White House South Lawn, but his remarks were inaudible. Later, he appeared on television during a meeting with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, stating that all media members would be welcome at the press conference.

Trump remarked: "It's interesting because, they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me, so I wasn't very worried about that. Look at all that press." The pool, which involves media organizations sharing material to reduce costs and space requirements, has been suspended as a result of the White House preventing CNN from fulfilling its pool duties for Trump's trip to New York.

The three media organizations banned from the White House filed a lawsuit on Monday in a US District Court in Washington, alleging that the revocation of their journalists' credentials without notice or process threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism free from government interference.