US TV Networks Suspend Pool Coverage After White House Bans Outlets

Major US television networks suspended their pooled coverage of President Donald Trump on Monday in response to CNN, Politico and MS NOW being barred from the White House.

Trump announced the ban on Friday as he accused the organisations of writing "fiction or lies" about his administration. The companies said their reporters were denied access to the building on Saturday.

The three US outlets have since said they will sue the Trump administration in a bid to "defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports".

Shortly after, the White House launched its own streaming channel, Trump TV, which operates a 24/7 feed of clips of the president.

Several other US outlets have also announced that they would not participate in coverage of pooled events, with some, including the New York Times and Washington Post, saying they would not share still images from Trump events on Monday.

It meant there was no network TV footage of Trump boarding Air Force One or arriving in New York to attend the UN general assembly.

Trump also took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Marine One helipad on the White House South Lawn. The event was streamed on the White House site but his comments were inaudible.

The president did later appear on television following a meeting with the Mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani. He told the president that all members of the media would be welcome at the press conference.

Trump said: "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 involves media organisations sharing material to save on costs and space when broadcasting presidential events to the American public.

Fox News Washington bureau chief Bryan Boughton, who currently holds a rotating role helping to organise media TV crews covering the White House, wrote in an email seen by the BBC that "effective today, the TV pool will not be covering designated as pool coverage" of Trump.

The message said the move followed the White House "preventing" CNN from fulfilling its pool duties for Trump's trip to New York and that "there will be no replacement pool put in place".

The three media organisations banned from the White House filed a lawsuit on Monday in US District Court in Washington.

A joint statement announcing the legal action said: "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."