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The five television networks that share White House pool coverage have suspended it, halting the rotation that supplies most American outlets with footage of the president.
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Shop NowFox News Media, ABC News, CBS News, CNN and NBC News acted together on Monday, the day CNN was due to take its turn as the pool’s representative.
The pool operates by rotation: one network covers an event and shares the material with the rest. Suspending it stops that flow at the source.
The trigger was the revocation of White House credentials from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, which Trump accused of publishing “fake news.”
In a joint statement, the five networks said: “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 three banned outlets said they are going to court. “This morning, we notified the government that we are filing a lawsuit today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes,” they said in a joint statement.
“Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting. Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference,” the statement continued.
Trump rejected the characterization in a post on Truth Social. “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,” he wrote. “It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our National Security, and must be stopped, NOW!”
Fox News reported that the White House Correspondents’ Association also responded critically and noted that federal judges have blocked previous attempts to strip White House credentials.
Two things are worth separating. The credential revocations are an action by the White House, now headed for litigation.
The pool suspension is a decision by the networks themselves, including Fox News, which is not among the banned outlets and is participating in the suspension anyway. Fox News did not report how long the networks intend to hold the suspension, or what would end it.
