This Monday, American media CNN, MS NOW and Politico filed a lawsuit following their eviction from the White House by Donald Trump, a decision that sparked an unprecedented mobilization of the major American television networks.
“This morning, we notified the government that we are initiating a legal proceeding today to defend our rights on behalf of the First Amendment (of the United States Constitution, guaranteeing freedom of the press), and of the principle that the government does not decide what the press publishes,” they said jointly in a statement on X.
In their complaint, CNN, MS NOW and Politico argue that the decision “cannot constitute a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more flagrant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles.”
“This ban is unconstitutional and should be immediately suspended,” pending a ruling on the merits, they request.
CNN was set to provide Monday the White House’s televised coverage, a task rotated among the five networks forming the “pool”, whose footage is then made available to other media outlets.
In support of the continuous news channel, the four other members of the “pool” – CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox – decided to cease their participation in this crucial arrangement.
An unprecedented move since the Republican president returned to power.
In a post published on his Truth Social platform, he again hardened his tone against a portion of the American press.
He accused the media of spreading “FAKE NEWS, something that has spread like a cancer across our dear United States of America.”
“This poses a threat to our national security and must be stopped, NOW!,” he added.
This new ban comes at a moment of great political difficulty for Donald Trump. With the midterm elections approaching in early November, the American president is increasingly unpopular due to the high cost of living in the United States and the surge in fuel prices, but also because of the war he launched in Iran, the outcome of which is more uncertain than ever.
During his first term and since returning to power in early 2025, Donald Trump has frequently attacked journalists or media whose coverage displeases him, whether in court, on Truth Social or verbally during sometimes very heated exchanges with journalists, particularly women.
He had also excluded the Associated Press from the Oval Office, a pillar of American journalism, after the latter refused to adopt the label “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico.
