---
title: "\"There will be no replacement\""
---

Major networks suspend Trump pool coverage. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  

| View in browser September 21, 2026 Good Monday evening. In this edition: Media outlets sue and TV networks suspend Trump pool coverage after White House ban. Plus, Trump arch, Paramount merger and Mamdani. Media Ban The five major TV news networks — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox News — agreed to suspend their pooled coverage of President Trump in response to his decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. "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 networks said in a joint statement. The media outlets have long participated in a "pool," in which they share responsibility for providing video coverage of White House events on a rotating basis. The pool arrangement, which dates back to the Eisenhower administration, was set up to cut down on the number of cameras and journalists at events with limited space. When a network is assigned to cover a day's events, it provides the same video to all the other networks for their coverage, plus other outlets, including C-SPAN, that subscribe to the pool. CNN was slated to provide pool coverage on Monday, but after President Trump on Friday banned CNN journalists from accessing the White House grounds, the other networks declined to fill in for them, leaving no replacement pool coverage. "Effective today, the TV pool will not be covering events designated as pool coverage of the President," Bryan Boughton, Fox News Washington bureau chief and TV pool chair, wrote in an email to TV pool subscribers. "This follows the White House's position preventing CNN from fulfilling its assigned pool duties. There will be no replacement pool put in place." President Trump defended his decision, saying he was not attacking the free press but rather "FAKE NEWS." "The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America," he wrote on Truth Social. "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!" The three banned outlets also filed a lawsuit Monday asking a federal court to immediately block the ban and restore their reporters' access to the White House on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. "President Trump has said in no uncertain terms that he would prefer only to be covered by news organizations and reporters who praise his administration," the lawsuit reads. "But the Constitution does not allow a president or any other government official to deprive the press of their First Amendment rights and liberty and property interests with no notice or process based solely on his dislike of the content of their reporting. The ban is unconstitutional and should be immediately restrained." The case is set to be heard Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom President Trump appointed in his first term. The president is already saying he expects an adverse ruling, pointing to Judge Kelly's 2018 decision ordering the White House to restore then-CNN reporter Jim Acosta's press credential. "Almost without question and, as usual, we'll go for appeal because Fake News people and publications that only write negatively, and who violate our National Security by writing false and defamatory stories with unknown 'sources,' shouldn't be allowed access to the most important Office anywhere in the World," the president wrote on social media. Vice President JD Vance argued earlier in the day that the president was "not banning media outlets" but rather revoking "special access" to the White House to outlets that "engage in what is effectively propaganda." "It's about basic fairness," he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews. "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, and I think it's totally appropriate, unless of course, they start to behave like real news organizations." The White House Correspondents' Association, which advocates for reporters covering the administration, condemned the ban, calling it a violation of the First Amendment. "The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably," Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, who serves as WHCA president, said in a statement. "That's why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of their reporting. The WHCA calls on the administration to immediately restore our colleagues' access." It's unclear how long the TV pool's presidential coverage will remain suspended or how quickly the courts will weigh in, but the situation is unfolding during a busy week with high-profile events. President Trump is slated to address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday and then host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit later in the week, including a state dinner on Thursday night. Video of the president's Tuesday speech will be provided by the United Nations. This afternoon, President Trump participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony for his new White House helipad, but none of the major TV networks carried the event. The White House aired the event on its social media channels, but with Marine One idling nearby and no network boom microphones in place, the president's remarks were inaudible. Watch VP Vance's remarks and read C-SPAN's statement on the situation. In other news… President Trump said Sunday his proposed 250-foot arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery will also serve as a "top grade military complex" able to host drones and snipers while storing ammunition. It's a similar strategy to his White House ballroom, which he says will double as a "military complex," with the administration arguing both projects serve national security purposes. The arch has received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were all tapped by President Trump, but it faces a lawsuit brought by a group of veterans and an architectural historian, who argue the project needs congressional approval. "The President's belated efforts to manufacture a national security justification for this project do nothing to cure its fundamental illegality," Nicolas Sansone, one of the attorneys representing the litigants, said in a statement. "Congress has not authorized the arch and unless and until Congress does so, the project should not be permitted to move forward." Paramount Skydance settled with a group of state attorneys general that sued on antitrust grounds to block its proposed $111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery, clearing a major hurdle to completing the biggest merger in Hollywood history. As part of the settlement, Paramount agreed to keep its operations in California and committed to not sell the Paramount Studios or Warner Bros. lots in the state for at least five years. Paramount will also invest at least an additional $1.5 billion in U.S. film production over five years and is obligated to release at least 30 movies for theatrical distribution per year. The company will also establish a "news editorial independence board" to help CNN and CBS maintain editorial independence. The new company will face penalties if it doesn't fulfill its commitments in the settlement, including potential divestiture of assets. California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D) emphasized that the settlement was not an endorsement of the merger, but rather a practical solution that addresses many of the states' concerns. President Trump said New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) has "great potential" following their hourlong meeting at Gracie Mansion ahead of the U.N. General Assembly. "I certainly hope he will be a great mayor. You have to understand, I want what's good for New York, I want what's good for the country," the president said. "I want him to be a great mayor, and he's certainly got potential, got great potential." The president's remarks were covered by local media outlets invited by Mayor Mamdani. "I told the president that we're going have all of the members of the press here on the lawn, and that is something that I believe in," Mayor Mamdani said before turning it over to the president. "It's interesting because they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me," President Trump said. "So, I wasn't very worried about that. Look at all that press." For your radar… President Trump and other world leaders on Tuesday address the United Nations on the first day of the 81st General Assembly meeting in New York City. Watch LIVE on C-SPAN starting at 9am ET. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here C-SPAN is on YouTube. Subscribe today for live coverage, consequential moments, memorable exchanges and the political events everyone will be talking about. Full Schedule Copyright © 2026 C-SPAN, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in. C-SPAN, 400 North Capitol Street NW, Suite 155, Washington, DC 20001 Unsubscribe Manage preferences |
| --- |