President Trump's move to ban CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House has highlighted the role of the press pool, a rotating group of reporters tasked with documenting and distributing information about what the president does and says each day.
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president → ban → what
Mr. Trump announced Friday that he would be
to the White House, citing what he said was their "constant 'reporting' FAKE NEWS!'"
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he → announce → House
CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO challenging the move Monday, arguing that the ban violated the First Amendment and their reporters' due process rights.
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ban → challenge → Amendment
They've asked the court to immediately order the White House to restore their journalists' press credentials and access.
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They've → ask → credentials
A hearing on their request is set for Wednesday.
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hearing → set → Wednesday
CNN is one of five television networks — with CBS News, ABC News, NBC News and Fox News — that make up the TV pool and was supposed to travel to New York as part of the pool to cover Mr. Trump's attendance at the United Nations General Assembly.
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that → make → Assembly
But with CNN kicked off the trip because of the president's ban, the four other networks
altogether in solidarity with CNN colleagues.
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CNN → kick → colleagues
CBS News, ABC News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News said in a statement Monday, "The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government.
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public → say → government
No administration should reject a news organization because it objects to its reporting."
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it → reject → reporting
Here is what to know about the White House press pool:
What is the White House press pool?
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pool → know → pool
The press pool is a group of journalists that rotates daily and covers the president every day.
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that → rotate → president
The pool is made up of print, wire, and digital reporters, still photographers, and broadcast and radio journalists who ask the president questions, compose short dispatches about what he does and says, and disseminate information to the broader White House press corps, which can then share those details with the public.
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which → make → public
Because some spaces, like the Oval Office or Air Force One, are too small to accommodate all of the reporters who cover the president, the press pool serves as their eyes and ears.
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pool → accommodate → eyes
The pool travels with the president in the U.S. and abroad, providing a historical record.
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pool → travel → record
At the White House, the pool may on any given day head into the Oval Office or the Cabinet Room when Mr. Trump holds meetings, delivers remarks or signs executive orders.
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Trump → give → orders
But when the president is traveling, an out-of-town pool flies on Air Force One and accompanies Mr. Trump when he spends weekends at his South Florida resort, holds events across the country, attends summits with allies or meets with foreign leaders overseas.
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he → travel → leaders
On some weekends, the pool will load into vans and travel with Mr. Trump to his golf course in Virginia, where they may catch glimpses of him as he exits and enters the White House.
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he → load → House
Pool reporters were in Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and a car carrying the group arrived at the hospital roughly six minutes after shots were fired, according to an account from Merriman Smith of United Press International.
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shots → assassinate → International
The press pool was also with President George W. Bush on Sept. 11, 2001, and a small group of reporters who were part of the broader pool that day went with the president on Air Force One to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska in the wake of the terror attacks.
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who → go → attacks
Dana Bash, CNN chief political correspondent, recalled in an interview with "CBS Mornings" traveling with Bush to China and said the 43rd president made "such a big deal about freedom of the press and showing, not just saying, but showing how important it was by having us in as many meetings as he could."
"He wanted to show China what it is like and how important it is," she said.
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she → recall → what
"Now here we are and the current president is about to host the current Chinese leader and he is going to do so after having banned three news networks.
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he → host → networks
What does that tell the Chinese, never mind countries around the world?
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that → tell → world
"
Mr. Trump is set to host Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday.
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Trump → set → Thursday
Reporters who make up the pool are given a "call time" for when they must arrive at the White House in the morning to start the day.
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they → make → day
White House press staff then announce a "lid" at the end of the day, which typically signals when there will not be any more movements or appearances by the president for the pool to cover.
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pool → announce → president
Who decides which outlets are in the pool?
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outlets → decide → pool
For years, the White House Correspondents' Association, which was created in 1914, selected the news outlets that served in the pool.
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that → create → pool
But in February 2025, the White House
would choose the organizations participating in the pool.
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House → choose → pool
The change came after the White House said it would no longer allow the Associated Press in the Oval Office or the press pool after the wire service declined to revise its Stylebook to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
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service → come → America
Mr. Trump
last year directing the name change.
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Trump → direct → change
The AP sued over its loss of access, but a federal appeals court said last year that the White House
out of the Oval Office and other restricted spaces.
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court → sue → Office
Since the White House started deciding which news outlets would be part of the daily pool rotation, several smaller, right-leaning organizations have begun participating.
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organizations → start → rotation
On Monday, for example, Real America's Voice was part of the out-of-town pool that traveled with the president to New York, and
"The Lila Rose Show," a podcast, was part of the in-town pool.
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Show → travel → pool
Now, on any given day, the pool currently consists of one broadcast correspondent and crew, a "secondary" television correspondent, three print, wire, or "new media" reporters, a radio journalist and four still photographers.
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pool → give → correspondent
The makeup of the television pool has not changed, though, and is still composed of five networks: CBS News, ABC News, NBC News, Fox News and CNN.
What kind of information is disseminated by the pool?
While the pool consists of more than a dozen different journalists, not all are responsible for writing and sending dispatches from events they attend with the president to be distributed to the press corps more widely.
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they → change → corps
When the White House took over responsibility for deciding which outlets could be part of the pool, it added "secondary" television and "new media" slots.
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it → take → slots
The reporters working for those outlets may ask questions of the president and attend events open to the pool.
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reporters → work → pool
But they do not shoot or distribute footage, or disseminate editorial material to the broader press corps.
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they → shoot → corps
Reporters in the print pool, which includes over 30 outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Daily Mail and the Daily Caller, will compile information into emails that are shared with White House Correspondents' Association members and passed along by the White House press office.
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that → include → office
Sometimes, these pool reports may be mundane, like when they share the exact time Mr. Trump left the White House and boarded Marine One.
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Trump → share → One
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
