Trump administration access restrictions spark newsroom boycott during Xi visit

US television networks resumed coverage of President Donald Trump’s White House events on Friday, providing the first live pool access for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, as a legal battle continues over restrictions on CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Trump last week banned the three outlets from the White House, before a judge ordered the administration to restore their access. The White House television press pool aired video of Xi’s arrival at the White House for tea on the final day of the Chinese leader’s visit, as well as the two leaders’ tour of the National Archives, which houses the US Constitution. CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC share the costs of covering the president and rotate coverage, providing pool footage to other outlets. The other networks’ refusal to set up cameras in solidarity meant there was no pool coverage of the first two days of Xi’s visit. CNN on Friday evening said it had been barred from traveling with Trump on Air Force One for a weekend trip to Tennessee. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Trump has long relied on the media to shape his public image and advance his agenda, even as he regularly casts news organisations as political adversaries. Since returning to office last year, his administration has taken an aggressive stance against major news outlets, including limiting access to the Oval Office and other restricted spaces. As pool coverage resumed for Xi’s arrival at the White House on Friday, Trump declined to answer questions from reporters on China and Iran, his media ban and a controversial new taxpayer-funded TV ad that promotes his presidency. He later thanked reporters. “We appreciate the fair coverage. It’s been very fair. We appreciate it,” Trump later told reporters alongside Xi. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the restored press access. Unprecedented campaign Trump banned the three news outlets from the White House complex over coverage he asserted was false or negative. Their access was reinstated on Thursday, after a federal judge deemed the ban likely unconstitutional and ordered their access to be immediately restored. CNN, MS NOW and Politico sued Trump and other members of his administration, saying the ban violated the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press, as well as their due process rights. A coalition of press freedom groups and dozens of news organizations, including Reuters, later filed a legal brief supporting the action. Despite the temporary ruling restoring access, the court has not yet resolved the main challenge to the ban, based on the First Amendment of the US Constitution that protects the right to free speech and a free press. The news outlets now have until September 28 to ask the judge to keep their access in place while the case moves forward. Even if the outlets won a permanent injunction against the ban, Trump could still pursue his case in federal court. Trump has waged an unprecedented campaign against the media since returning to office last year, launching personal attacks on journalists, denying access to some outlets and suing news organisations, as well as calling on the Federal Communications Commission to strip broadcast stations of their licenses. Friendliest press corps On Thursday, Trump made a joke to photographers in the Oval Office about China — which imposes strict censorship across its media — having the friendliest press corps, as he welcomed Xi to the White House. While the White House on Thursday told the court it had reinstated CNN, MS NOW and Politico’s access, CNN and MS NOW later said some of their journalists were denied access to cover Xi’s arrival for the White House state dinner, according to the Washington Post. A lawyer for the three outlets in court this week warned that the White House could again try to revoke the outlets’ White House access as the current litigation continues. David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, which is seeking to merge with CNN-parent Warner Bros. Discovery, attended the Trump-Xi state dinner Thursday night. Critics have raised concerns about Paramount-owned CBS News tailoring coverage to favor Trump, although Ellison has promised to create an editorial independence board for both CBS and CNN as part of the deal.

In the topsy-turvy MAGA world, some of America’s most prominent media outlets are choosing not to cover Donald Trump. In reality, they’re still under the Trump administration’s ban.The president claimed on Truth Social Thursday afternoon that MS NOW and CNN “refused to cover” the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House. “The event was magnificent—Actually made for Television but, because they’re Fake News, and because they knew how good it would be, they didn’t want credit to be given to ‘TRUMP,’ they refused to be there,” Trump wrote. “That’s why they have such poor Ratings.”But that was far from the truth. Reporters from those two networks, as well as many others, refused to cover Xi’s arrival in protest of Trump’s attempt to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House grounds. What’s more, just hours after Trump’s post, CNN and MS NOW were blocked from covering the state dinner at the White House Thursday night.MS NOW’s White House reporter Laura Barrón-López explained she had attempted to cover the greeting ceremony as Xi arrived at the state dinner.“We had submitted our credentials for this event last night, at the deadline that was issued by the White House to submit them,” she said. “A pretty typical event here at the White House that we would regularly cover.”“When I went up to the wrangler, who is one of the press assistants who handles press and logistics like this, after most of the press had gone through I said, ‘Will I be admitted? I’m with MS NOW and I submitted my credential.’ I was told, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t let you in. I’m sorry, I can’t.’”Barrón-López said she was then directed by a White House staffer to speak to White House Communications Director Steven Cheung for an explanation as to why she was restricted. She said she texted Cheung, though it was not clear if he responded.Barrón-López added that she did receive a credential to cover Trump and Xi’s visit to the National Archives on Friday, though that trip is notably not on the contested White House grounds.Trump announced last week that he was banning MS NOW, CNN, and Politico from the White House, writing on Truth Social that the prohibition was the result of “FAKE NEWS.” Within days, the trio had filed a lawsuit against the president and his administration, describing the selective ban as a “a blatant violation” of the First Amendment.Other broadcasters considered the ban an affront to news institutions across the country. By Monday, every reputable broadcaster in the White House press pool—including NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News—had joined together to suspend coverage of the president and his actions until he reversed course.U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly reinstated the outlets’ access for a two-week period on Thursday, though the Trump administration immediately defied the order.“The big question is: is this going to continue?” Barrón-López added. “Are we not going to be credentialed into these daily events?”

President Trump’s press ban left his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping without any U.S. TV pool coverage, giving Chinese state media more access to the White House than American press.Despite a court order Wednesday night restoring White House access to Politico, MS NOW, and CNN, their journalists were still barred from the grounds Thursday morning. As a result, the entire White House TV press pool, which includes Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, continued their boycott from broadcasting the president live, and were joined by White House photojournalists.“Although a court decision restored media access to CNN, Politico & MS NOW earlier this morning, we are currently without a network pool camera. If anything changes, I’ll send out an update,” White House print pool reporter Kerry Picket said.As a result, China Global Television Network was one of the few outlets to have video of Xi’s arrival at the White House, a reminder of when Trump in his first term barred the U.S. press pool from the building while allowing Russian state media to take pictures of Trump with Russian officials.Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday morning attended a welcome ceremony held by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. pic.twitter.com/ErcdUVP8m7— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) September 24, 2026After the outlets were barred Thursday morning, they immediately notified the court. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly gave the White House until 12:30 p.m. to explain the continued ban. The White House responded just before the deadline, claiming in a court document that access was restored to Politico, CNN, and MS NOW as of 9:55 a.m.That wasn’t the case, as Politico, CNN, and MS NOW only reported being allowed onto White House grounds around noon, long after Trump’s press conference with Xi. Per Kelly’s order, Trump has to allow their access for at least two weeks while the court case continues.