US TV networks halt Trump coverage after White House bans CNN

US television networks staged an extraordinary revolt Monday when they effectively boycotted coverage of President Donald Trump in protest at his decision to ban three leading outlets from the White House.

CNN, MS NOW and Politico also went to court after Trump on Friday ordered them to be barred, as the 80-year-old Republican stepped up his years-long assault on the US media.

As a result of the row, Trump's opening of his cherished new White House helipad and his trip to the United Nations General Assembly were proceeding without live television coverage.

In a rare move, the top five US broadcasters said on Monday that they were halting "pool" coverage of the White House -- where a broadcaster films on behalf of all television outlets for the day -- in solidarity with CNN.

CNN had been scheduled to serve Monday as the White House TV pool.

"The public has a vital interest in receiving accurate, independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting," ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC said in a statement.

The result is an almost unprecedented test of wills between the Trump administration and the press, in a critical week during which Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the White House.

Media 'like cancer'

There will be no live TV of Trump's meetings with foreign leaders at the UN in New York, an annual forum that is closely watched around the world.

Meanwhile the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the giant granite helipad on the South Lawn was only streamed on the White House's website -- and Trump's comments were completely inaudible. 

Several photo news organizations working at the White House, including AFP, decided to delay the release of photographs of Trump at the helipad in solidarity with the three banned media organizations.

Trump was unrepentant, branding the media a "cancer" and a threat to national security.

"The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish," Trump said on his Truth Social network. 

"It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America."

Vice President JD Vance -- a former CNN commentator before his move into politics -- accused the outlets of disseminating "left-wing propaganda."

"They can still report. They still have the access to free speech. They're just not going to get an office in the White House anymore," he told reporters.

Trump's ban however went further than simply revoking office space from the outlets.

Journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied any access to the White House grounds on Saturday and had their passes confiscated.

In their lawsuit, the three organizations asked for a temporary restraining order against the ban on the grounds that it violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which upholds the right to a free press.

"This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles," the organizations said in a court filing.

A US district judge set a hearing on the complaint for Wednesday. 

Press passes confiscated

Trump's sudden announcement of the ban on Friday stunned the media -- and reportedly many in his own administration.

The president has not detailed what prompted the ban, but said in response to a question from an AFP reporter in the Oval Office on Friday that it was "really just cumulative stories over the last two years."

Trump warned Friday that other outlets could face a similar fate, without saying which.

The billionaire former reality TV star has long attacked media outlets that have aired critical coverage of his campaigns and administrations, repeatedly blasting the press as the "enemy of the people."

But the ban comes at a time when his approval ratings are at record lows, his Republican Party risks losing control of Congress in November's midterm elections, and the Iran war drags on with no end in sight.