Donald Trump: Justice Department takes action against TV station over antitrust allegations

According to a media report, the US Department of Justice is investigating several major US television networks on suspicion of illegal agreements in reporting on the president. This is reported by the New York Times, citing six people who are familiar with the process. The channels are ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News.

“Community boycotts among competitors can violate antitrust law,” the newspaper quoted a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice as saying. "The antitrust department is only investigating whether these news companies have violated antitrust laws." Neither the ministry nor the broadcasters initially responded to a request from the Reuters news agency for comment.

According to the report, the background is that the TV stations briefly stopped their joint reporting on Trump. This happened after the president excluded the channels CNN and MSNBC as well as “Politico” from the White House (click here for the analysis). They later resumed reporting after a lawsuit and an injunction (more on the topic here).

CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC make up the White House television pool. In this so-called pool reporting, the broadcasters share the costs, take turns organizing it and make the material available to other media.

Always new measures against press representatives

Just last week, the White House once again barred Politico from taking part in a trip on the presidential plane, Air Force One, to a Trump campaign appearance. An attempt was made to find a medium at short notice that was willing to replace the portal. "But it couldn't find a replacement," the station quotes from an email from Washington Post journalist Katherine Doyle to colleagues. The place therefore remained unoccupied.

The White House is apparently counting on being able to regulate access to the presidential machine regardless of the decision in Washington. Asked about the latest exclusion, a Trump spokesman said, according to CNN: "Traveling with the President of the United States aboard Air Force One is a privilege, not a right."