Justice Department seems to open antitrust probe of TV networks over paused Trump pool coverage

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has begun investigating whether five television networks violated federal competition law when they suspended White House pool coverage of President Donald Trump last month, according to the BBC and the Guardian. A department spokesperson confirmed the probe on Saturday, October 10, the Guardian reports.

The spokesperson framed the inquiry around boycotts. “Group boycotts among commercial competitors can violate the Sherman Act,” the spokesperson said, according to the BBC, which describes that law as one barring companies from monopolistic business practices. “The Antitrust Division is simply investigating to determine whether these news organisations have violated the antitrust laws,” the spokesperson added, according to the BBC; the Guardian quotes the same line with the American spelling “organizations.”

The BBC reports that the department asked ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC and Fox News to hand over communications related to the White House TV pool. The Guardian says it sent messages late Saturday to the five outlets seeking comment; neither report carried a response from the networks at the time of publication.

The pool works as a shared arrangement. According to the Guardian, the broadcasters in it share the costs of covering the president, take turns organizing coverage and share the footage with outlets around the country. The BBC describes members passing pictures and descriptions of the president’s movements to the wider media.

The dispute dates to September. On September 19 the White House blocked reporters from CNN, Politico and MS Now from entering the building and revoked their credentials, the Guardian reports, and the White House called covering the president a “privilege – not a right.” Trump had accused the organizations of writing “fiction or lies” about his team, according to the BBC. The five networks then halted pool coverage for several days, the BBC reports.

Courts entered the fight soon after. CNN, MS Now and Politico sued, arguing the restriction violated their First Amendment rights, the BBC reports. A judge gave the three organizations a reprieve that remains in place until Tuesday, the Guardian reports, and the White House reinstated their access. Television pool coverage has also resumed, according to the Guardian.

Press-freedom advocates objected quickly. Jose Zamora, the Committee to Protect Journalists’ regional director for the Americas, wrote on X, in remarks the Guardian quotes: “The government should not use antitrust investigations to intimidate news outlets defending press access. The public’s right to know depends on that access.”

The probe follows earlier clashes over access. In February the White House announced it would take control of the press pool, which the White House Correspondents’ Association had managed for more than a century, the BBC reports. That same month the administration moved to bar Associated Press reporters and photographers from limited-access spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One over the outlet’s use of “Gulf of Mexico” rather than “Gulf of America,” according to the BBC; AP sued, and the case continues.

Open questions this desk will watch: whether the networks respond publicly or contest the document requests; whether the department moves beyond requests to any formal action; and what happens to the CNN, MS Now and Politico access case when the judge’s reprieve expires on Tuesday.