White House television pool resumes after banned news outlets regain access

Trump’s media ban resulted in an effective TV blackout of coverage of the president during the UN general assembly

The primary White House television pool has resumed filming administration events after a court ruling temporarily overturned a Trump administration ban on CNN a day earlier.

In an unprecedented move, the pool – which also includes NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox News – ceased recording and transmitting White House footage on Monday, in solidarity with CNN, MS Now and Politico, which had been banned by Trump from the building over what he said was “their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS.”

The decision meant that, for much of this week, there was no high-quality pool footage of White House events and the president’s movements, though some smaller outlets attempted to provide coverage.

With the pool still inactive on Thursday afternoon, that meant that a significant presidential event, a summit with Xi Jinping, China’s president, did not receive video coverage on the leading television networks. ABC had been listed as the TV pooler for the day, but held off until the network received assurances that CNN would be let back into the pool.