President Donald Trump celebrated the completion of a new helicopter landing pad on the South Lawn Monday. However, the event’s real story became who wasn’t there to film it. ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News all declined to send pooled camera crews. They joined CNN in stepping back after the network was barred from White House grounds days earlier.
Major networks skip pooled coverage as Donald Trump inaugurates the new White House helipad
Rain fell lightly as Donald Trump took a pair of oversized gold scissors to a red, white, and blue ribbon. The president formally opened the granite-clad helipad he has pushed for since taking office. Construction workers in hard hats and green smocks lined up for handshakes. Meanwhile, administration aides, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, looked on as the ceremony unfolded.
Whatever Trump said during the roughly three-minute event was largely lost to the noise of Marine One idling nearby. Television crews typically bring dedicated audio equipment to White House events. However, with the pool boycott in place, only a livestream was produced by the White House itself. The pool’s print reporter on duty, The Washington Blade’s Joe Reberkenny, reported that Trump could not be heard clearly even by those standing close by.
The president skipped questions from reporters and boarded his helicopter for the first leg of a trip to New York. The empty press risers trace back to Friday, when Trump announced he was cutting off CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from White House access, accusing them of publishing “FICTION and LIES.” All three outlets sued soon after, arguing the move violated their First Amendment rights. The White House pushed back in a statement titled “White House Access Is a Privilege — Not a Right,” maintaining that press credentials are not a constitutional entitlement.
In response, the five outlets that normally rotate pool duty announced they’d pause the arrangement entirely rather than let one member sit out under a government-imposed ban.
