President's UN trip will not have a TV camera
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The opening of the 2026 UN General Assembly. Photo: Zhang Fengguo/Xinhua via Getty Images
The White House press pool will not send a replacement camera in lieu of CNN to cover the president's trip to the UN General Assembly, the press pool chair confirmed Monday.
Why it matters: The president's historic decision to unilaterally block CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House means a critical international moment will lack video coverage.
How it works: Five major TV networks — CNN, CBS, NBC, FOX, and ABC — rotate responsibility for pooled video coverage of President Trump.
- With CNN banned, it was unclear whether the pool would be reassigned to another network.
- Other pool outlets that are not TV networks will still accompany the president, so there will still be coverage, just not a video feed.
Zoom in: In a note to White House pool subscribers Monday morning, pool chair Bryan Boughton of Fox News said, "[E]ffective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President."
- "This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place. All other pool coverage will continue as normal, including Congress, VIPs, and selected events in Washington and around the country."
Zoom out: The statement comes shortly after CNN, MS NOW, and Politico on Monday said they will file a First Amendment lawsuit against the White House, arguing the president and the administration violated their rights by blocking their access over the weekend.
- The lawsuit is a historic show of solidarity amongst the banned outlets.
The big picture: The networks' power is practical and cultural: They collectively manage the pooled video that puts the presidency on television, the medium that made Trump a national celebrity and that he has long closely monitored.
What to watch: It remains to be seen whether the pool networks issue formal statements of solidarity with CNN.
- White House press pool outlets have a history of defending one another when persecuted or facing political pressure.
- In 2009, major TV outlets refused to participate in an Obama administration interview unless Fox News was included, which the White House eventually did.
- "The WHCA stands in defense of our colleagues at CNN, MSNOW, and POLITICO who are being singled out for doing their jobs," Fox News anchor and White House Correspondents' Association president Jacqui Heinrich said in a statement Friday when President Trump first said he planned to ban the select outlets.
