Photo Agencies and Newspapers Withhold Trump Photos in Solidarity with US Television Networks
Major photo agencies and newspapers are temporarily withholding photographs of President Donald Trump’s events in solidarity with news organizations barred from the White House.
On Monday, all major US television networks decided to pull out of White House pool duties, suspending their pooled coverage of President Trump in response to CNN, Politico, and MS NOW being barred from the White House. The companies say its camera operators were turned away from the White House over the weekend, with U.S. Secret Service agents confiscating their press badges at a security gate.
The row over media access to the presidency has since escalated. According to CNN’s Brian Stelter, photographers from The New York Times, the Associated Press (AP), Agence France-Presse (AFP), Reuters, and Getty Images are reportedly also staging a coordinated camera blackout around Trump.
Photographers from The New York Times, The AP, AFP, Reuters and Getty, all of whom are on photo pool duty on Monday, are participating in what The Washington Post called a “collective effort with photographers in other newsrooms.”
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 21, 2026
“In solidarity with news organizations who have had their access to the White House restricted, AP joined a group of news outlets in not publishing photographs of today’s presidential events,” Patrick Maks, a spokesperson for AP, tells the Daily Beast. “No news organization—or person — should be retaliated against by the government over the words they use.”
— NYTimes Communications (@NYTimesPR) September 21, 2026
Newsrooms including The New York Times and the Washington Post also decided to hold off on publishing or distributing still photographs taken as part of the White House pool coverage on Monday until midnight as part of the collective effort.
In a statement, The Washington Post tells The Daily Beast that it would not publish any photos of Trump’s events — including those at the U.N. — until midnight Eastern Time each day, “joining a collective effort with photographers in other newsrooms covering the White House in a show of support of the banned outlets.”
https://t.co/RMEocqGiNq pic.twitter.com/Cf6hxcBC5n
— Washington Post Communications (@WashPostComms) September 21, 2026
A spokesperson for The New York Times, meanwhile, tells the outlet that the paper “will not publish or distribute any images taken as part of the White House still photography pool today, in conjunction with the other members of that pool and in a show of support for the news organizations being unfairly targeted by the president’s barring of journalists from the White House.”
The press’ extraordinary coordinated response to Trump’s ban on the outlets has left the president without a major network TV crew or photographers to cover him as he prepares to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. In response, the White House promoted its own online video feed, calling it “Trump TV.” The channel was described as a place for “top past moments, announcements, and the latest and greatest from the administration all in one place”.
CNN, MS Now and Politico, the outlets barred by the White House, have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. They argue that the restrictions violate their First Amendment rights. The news organizations are seeking a temporary restraining order that would restore their access to the White House while the legal case proceeds.
Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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