Key Points
- Major television networks resumed pool coverage of President Donald Trump on Friday after a several-day standoff over White House access.
- The dispute began after the White House barred CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from covering Trump on White House grounds.
- ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC suspended television pool coverage earlier in the week in response.
Major television networks resumed collective coverage of President Donald Trump on Friday after a standoff over White House access temporarily disrupted the television pool that supplies video of presidential events to news organizations.
CBS served as the television pool for Xi Jinping’s arrival at the White House at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time, when Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greeted the Chinese leader and his wife. A CBS camera crew also carried footage of Trump and Xi drinking tea in the Red Room.
At one point, Trump turned to the camera and said, “We appreciate the fair coverage. It’s been very fair. We appreciate it.”
CNN handled the network pool assignment later Friday at the National Archives, where Trump and Xi visited around lunchtime. The museum houses original copies of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. Networks also carried pool footage of Trump briefly speaking to reporters and viewing the Declaration of Independence.
The return of pool coverage followed several days of disruption after the White House barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from covering Trump on White House grounds. In response, the five networks that share television pool duties — ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News and NBC — suspended pool coverage earlier in the week.
A federal judge ordered the White House to restore access to the three outlets early Thursday. Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to work afterward, though the major networks continued to seek confirmation that CNN would be allowed back into the pool rotation.
CNN later received an email from the White House with logistical instructions for Friday’s assignment at the National Archives. The networks treated the message as confirmation that CNN could proceed with its pool assignment.
Officials at the White House have not made a public comment about the matter.
The television pool is the main mechanism through which broadcasters and other news organizations receive video of presidential events when space is limited or the full press corps cannot be present. The pool rotation is alphabetical among the participating networks; ABC was scheduled to handle the assignment on Thursday, but that network and others abstained while the dispute about White House access remained unresolved.
“The plan is to return to covering the president in a normal capacity with a full crew,” a note to television pool subscribers said Friday. “This arrangement can be assessed throughout the day.”
The pause meant major American networks did not carry live pool coverage of parts of Xi’s visit earlier in the week. Trump wrote on social media that the visit was “Actually made for Television” and said the networks had “refused” to cover it. The post did not mention that the administration had barred some outlets from the White House grounds.
The legal fight over the ban has drawn support from more than four dozen news organizations. A friend-of-the-court brief filed Wednesday said the White House action violated the First Amendment and threatened coverage arrangements used by competing news outlets to share access to presidential events.
Bruce Brown, the President of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the ban was significant because it affected the public’s access to White House coverage.
“The president has kicked news organizations out of the White House because he does not like the news they report,” Brown said. “That is a brazen violation of the First Amendment that the courts should quickly reverse in order to protect the public interest.”
News organizations that signed the brief included the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters, Bloomberg News, ProPublica and the Los Angeles Times. E. W. Scripps Company also backed the filing, saying it supported the First Amendment and the role of a free press in serving the public.
