Major television networks plan to continue to provide pool coverage of President Trump's daily activities this week despite the White House's ongoing efforts to block CNN from covering the president. Each of the TV networks in the pool, including NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox, plan to fulfill their pool duties on the days they are...
Page A3From§Eachthe noon edition — 28 September 2026
Trump proposes swapping the press pool for a swimming pool the press pool just proved it doesn't need.
As it ran on the front
Networks were suing by September 23 on First Amendment grounds, and the arrangement that makes daily coverage possible went dark for four days.
Then it reassembled. On Friday, September 25, five networks were back in the pool, live, for President Xi Jinping's arrival, carried without incident. The three banned outlets were still outside. What came back was the machinery, not the guest list: CNN, MS NOW and Politico remained barred, and nobody at the White House said how many more days that ban was meant to run.…
…(cont) Three days later, on Monday, September 28, the president floated tearing the press room out and putting in an indoor pool. The same week the pool proved it could walk out and come back, he suggested draining the room of reporters entirely and filling it with water instead. The Hill reported that same day that the networks intend to keep showing up regardless — pool coverage continues, the CNN block stands, and the president is talking about swimming laps where the briefing lectern used to be.
The room that holds the press pool is being discussed, this week, as a literal pool. The White House press pool — the arrangement by which five networks pool cameras and share the feed so reporters do not have to fight for one spot at the rope line — held a boycott, held a lawsuit, and held its ground long enough to be standing there when the president suggested replacing it with a place to swim.
The five networks came back. CNN, MS NOW and Politico did not. Whoever is counting the days should keep a running number, because right now nobody in the building will give one.
“Watch the trick: you ban the outlets, the rest of the pool walks out to back them up, the pool wins, comes back — and a week later the guy who lost that round is talking about ripping the room out and putting in a hot tub. That's not a renovation idea, that's a threat with a punchline on it, and the punchline is the room disappearing next time nobody walks out. Three outlets are still locked out right now and nobody's said for how long.”
“Look, the President floats a lot of ideas, that's just how he thinks out loud, it doesn't mean — well, I mean it could mean the room gets renovated, sure, why not, the West Wing needs updating. And the CNN thing, that's a separate matter entirely, that's about accuracy in reporting, it has nothing to do with — did I just connect those two things myself? Forget I said that.”
The receipts
It would be a different kind of press pool.
· Trump banned part of the White House press pool. Here's what that means. from the morgue, 23 Sep 2026
· Trump Event Broadcast With No Audio After He Booted Press Pool Members from the morgue, 21 Sep 2026
· 5 major networks rejoin White House TV pool after CNN standoff from the morgue, 25 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.