Donald Trump‘s visit to the UN General Assembly will not be televised by the major US broadcasters on Monday as they band together to boycott his ban on CNN and MS NOW.
Fox News, CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC, collectively known as the TV pool, are protesting the White House and have decided to not dispatch cameramen or reporters to cover the president on Monday.
This means that Trump’s trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting on Monday will go unaired on the major networks.
Still, the conservative outlet Real America’s Voice (RAV) will be on hand to stream the event from the UN while local TV operator Hearst will cover the president’s White House events.
Fox News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton, who serves as TV pool chair and is responsible for the logistics of presidential coverage, confirmed the decision to not send any TV news personnel to the UN in an email sent out on Monday morning.
‘This is to advise that, effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President,’ Boughton writes.
‘This follows the White House’s position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place.’
It is unclear when the major broadcasters will resume coverage of the president.
Fox News , CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC – collectively known as the TV pool – are protesting the White House and have decided to not dispatch cameramen or reporters to cover the president on Monday
TV broadcast tents at the White House were vacant on Monday after Trump banned some outlets from the residence
CNN was previously scheduled to serve as the TV pool crew on Monday, but that was before Trump banned that outlet, MS NOW and Politico from the White House.
However, the official daily guidance sent out by the White House on Sunday stated that there would be no TV pool on Monday, leaving CNN’s rotation off the list.
Trump has also threatened to take action against the New York Times and the Washington Post.
Trump banned the outlets on Friday, calling them ‘fake news’ and lashing out at their critical coverage of his administration.
‘It’s about basic fairness,’ Vice President JD Vance said of the ban on Monday.
‘They can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They’re just not going to get an office in the White House anymore.’
When reporters from the banned outlets appeared at the White House for work over the weekend, some had their press passes revoked.
The major broadcasters coalesced around the banned outlets and issued a blistering statement against the president’s decision.
CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein, right, departs after having her credential revoked on Saturday following President Donald Trump’s ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico, at the White House
MS NOW White House Correspondent Vaughn Hillyard delivers a television report on a street corner outside the White House grounds on Monday after his outlet was banned
‘The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government,’ they said in a statement. ‘No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.’
When pressed for comment, the White House responded with a social media post from the president published earlier on Monday morning.
‘The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish,’ Trump 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!’
While CNN was banned from the White House, its reporters and crew still covered Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he opened the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, showing that the White House ban does not extend to other departments.
The three media outlets Trump targeted, CNN, MS NOW and Politico, announced they would combat the administration in court over the ban.
‘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 statement released on Monday.
‘Without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists’ credentials because it objected to our reporting,’ the statement continued.
‘Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public’s right to independent journalism free from government interference.’
US District Judge Timothy Kelly, who Trump appointed in his first term, is presiding over the case and is on familiar legal ground.
In 2018, he ordered the White House to restore CNN journalist Jim Acosta’s credentials after his press pass was pulled following a heated clash with Trump.
The White House also published a cryptic social media post on Monday with a TV showing static with the caption: ‘Something’s coming. Stay tuned.’
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