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Tuesday, September 22, 2026
President Donald Trump arrived in New York City for the United Nations General Assembly, precisely the sort of global event that brings glowing, telegenic opportunities he delights in. But the video images to emerge today will likely be limited because of a TV pool boycott in response to Trump’s ban on White House access for CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. Turns out, the President needs a TV pool to air whatever he says and capture audio, which became abundantly clear during a Monday press event in which no one watching on television could hear a word he said. In other words, his press ban appears to have totally backfired. Meanwhile, the White House predictably launched Trump TV in response, which is literally state-run TV and invited immediate comparisons to North Korea. Not great.
01. Trump’s Press Ban Backfires
[Gaining Traction]. What changed: Networks stood with CNN, which had been assigned TV pool duties for Monday. By afternoon, Trump could barely be heard during his first press avail since the networks joined to boycott.
Trump banned CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Friday, and the three sued Monday morning. By afternoon, the story was how the guy who loves television coverage had scored an embarrassing own goal.
The email shutting the TV Pool down came from Bryan Boughton, the Fox News Washington bureau chief, and current chair of the television pool. Effective Monday, the pool is not covering presidential events, and there is no replacement pool. All five member networks, including Fox News, signed a joint statement. The Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Reuters and Getty withheld still photos in solidarity. NPR stopped using White House audio.
Later in the day, no major network carried Trump cutting the ribbon on his new South Lawn helipad, a project he’s repeatedly boasted about. Newsmax covered it, though the lack of TV pool led its anchor to say on the air, “There is no microphone because the pool cameras aren’t there. So maybe, Tim, this is one example of it backfiring just a little bit.” When you’ve lost Newsmax….
The only television outlet traveling with him to New York is MAGA streaming outlet Real America’s Voice, the online channel that carries Steve Bannon’s War Room. Somewhere Mike Lindell is likely fuming.
TAKEAWAY: It’s early days, but Trump’s controversial and unconstitutional press ban appears to be hurting Trump more than the networks. But the fact that this is the lead narrative and not the high price of gas, terrible polling, or a stagnant Iran War? I suspect the White House will call this a win.
02. Trump’s ‘Threat to National Security’ Excuse Metastatizes
[Going Mainstream]. On Monday morning, Trump defended his press ban, insisting that CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were a “threat to national security,” which is also what he says to defend the arch, the ballroom, and why the US needs Greenland.
The White House seems to love one justification for nearly everything it wants: national security. On the morning the three banned outlets sued, Trump posted that fake news is “a threat to our National Security.” The White House statement on the ban is titled “White House Access Is a Privilege — Not a Right.” It argues that no president is required to host “a hostile operation” on the grounds.
Trump’s proposed 250-foot arch near Arlington is now, per Trump’s own post, a dual-use military site with snipers, drones, and ammunition storage. He defended the change by claiming it came “at the strong request of the United States Military.” The White House ballroom plans grew to include a drone port and an underground bunker? Also due to national security. The Greenland basing deal Trump will sign this week is also designed to improve national security.
JD Vance defended the press ban by labeling the outlets’ coverage as “effectively propaganda.” That means the press is more than just an annoyance and an actual threat to…national security.
TAKEAWAY: The math here is just as easy to see as it is craven. A “triumphal” monument is much harder to defend in court than a military installation, however absurd Trump’s stationed snipers might be.
03. The Antiwar Right Starts Campaigning Against Republicans
[Gaining Traction]. Republican candidates started backing away from the Iran war last week, but by Monday the right’s biggest voices went after the candidates.
Tucker Carlson said he “wouldn’t vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint,” and that “there’s no one who should be farther from a position of power than Mike Rogers.” Rogers is the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan. CNN played the clip Monday night for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat in the race. El-Sayed called Rogers “feckless” and “a coward” and said “what you’re seeing here is MAGA eating itself.”
James Carville went after Rogers from the left the same night, on Fox News. He said it’s easy for Rogers to say we need to get out of Iran now. “The farmers can’t afford diesel fuel. Thank you for closing the barn door after the livestock has gotten out.”
Breitbart ran its own story on Rogers and Iowa’s Ashley Hinson calling for an end to the war. Later that night on Fox News, Gen. Jack Keane, back from a trip to Israel, said he expects Iran to escalate before the midterms and “massive action by the United States and Israel.”
TAKEAWAY: A new CNN poll with SSRS explains why the candidates are moving away from the war Republican approval of Trump’s handling of Iran was 73 percent in March but has fallen to 60 percent now. Among Republicans under 45, and Republicans who don’t consider themselves MAGA, a majority now disapprove. Diesel has had its biggest one-year price increase since AAA started keeping track more than 25 years ago.
“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else.”
That’s Republican Senator John Curtis, from Utah, explaining the letter he sent Monday to Chuck Grassley and Dick Durbin asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate how presidential families convert proximity into money, and to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. along with Hunter Biden.
The letter also names Don Jr’s wedding afterparty on a private island provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who reportedly traveled to China with Putin’s delegation shortly before giving the gift. It also lists family-backed crypto ventures, international real estate meetings with foreign heads of state, and advisory ties to prediction-market platforms.
“Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships,” he added in his social media post. “We should not unplug it now. ‘Trust us’ was not enough then, and it is not enough now.”
The data tells the real, better stories beneath the headlines.
FBI Bribery Probe Circling Susan Collins Died in Trump’s Purge: ProPublica reports that a defense contractor spent three days telling FBI agents he traded campaign money for federal contracts through Collins’ office. The investigation collapsed after Trump was elected and the FBI agents running it were forced out. (ProPublica)
Mamdani Hands Trump a Microphone: After meeting at Gracie Mansion Monday, Mamdani took questions from his own press scrum while the pool-less President borrowed the audio, and told reporters “they never boycott me.” (NY Times)
Scott Bessent Pitches Beijing an AI Hotline: The Treasury Secretary floated a “notification mechanism” for AI incidents with Chinese officials this weekend. This comes days before Thursday’s Trump-Xi meeting amid AI alarmism, and Trump maintaining AI fears are a hoax. (Axios)
Based on transcripts from the 6 and 7 a.m. hours of Fox & Friends, CNN This Morning, News Central, and Morning Joe.
Given the press ban backfire, recent death-spiral polling, a dead-on-arrival $5,000 voter bribe (remember that?), and a stagnant Iran War, you’d think this admin is in an increasingly state of panic. And that would be reasonable. But yesterday’s joint press conference with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani featured a convivial, confident, and seemingly happy president eager to work with the Democratic mayor who has been absolutely villainized by Trump’s favorite conservative media outlets. This was a clear outlier, but it shows the president still has the ability to work across the aisle, which is the exact tonic this nation needs. It will never happen, but imagine a Trump admin that dropped the Roy Cohn best defense is a good offense bluster and actually led the nation? I suspect that approach would lead to a much better midterm result for the Republican party.
The Morning Frame tracks which political stories are spreading, which are stalling, and how you can tell the difference. Powered by Narrative Prism.
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