Justice Department Investigates Five TV Networks Over White House Pool Pause

ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News wouldn't fill CNN's pool slot after Trump banned it. The department points to the Sherman Act.

The Justice Department is investigating five TV networks over suspending the White House TV pool after President Donald Trump banned CNN, a spokeswoman said Saturday.

The probe covers ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News, TheWrap reported. That means it reaches the four networks that wouldn't take CNN's place in the rotation, not just the one that was banned. The department wants to know whether competitors who share the pool's work and its costs broke antitrust law by stepping back together.

"Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act," Justice Department spokeswoman Emily Covington told The Hollywood Reporter. She added that the Antitrust Division is only looking into whether the news organizations broke the law. A network source told THR that the department reached out Friday and demanded the networks' communications about suspending the pool.

The version of the statement TheWrap published, citing The New York Times, had one more word: it said pool members had "proudly boycotted" White House events. The Times reported, citing six sources, that the networks were contacted Friday.

It started Sept. 18, when Trump announced he was barring CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House for writing "purposely negative stories," TheWrap reported. The three outlets sued on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. A federal judge temporarily blocked the ban, and last week the order was extended through Tuesday.

Even back on the grounds, the outlets haven't regained the access they used to have, according to THR. TheWrap reported that the administration now argues they aren't guaranteed entry to places like the Oval Office or Air Force One. It also reported that Politico reporters were blocked from covering a trip in the past week, even with their credentials restored.

The pause left real gaps. Because ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC wouldn't replace CNN, there's no pool footage of some events, according to TheWrap. That includes Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit, video that normally would have gone out to outlets around the world. The White House has also launched its own YouTube channel, Trump TV, to stream its events live, THR reported.

The networks went back to full pool coverage on Sept. 25. The Justice Department's demand for their messages about the pause came two weeks later.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, retrieved October 11, 2026. Other sources: TheWrap.