White House Video Coverage Returns As Networks Resume TV Pool; CNN Says It’s Being Allowed Back In After Judge Sidelines Trump Ban

Video footage of presidential events at the White House returned to TV screens on Friday as five TV networks resumed their pool coverage.

Major cable networks showed images of an outdoor ceremony featuring Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with their wives. They later telecast footage from inside the White House of a meeting between Trump and Xi.

Such footage of White House events has been absent for much of the week, after the White House restricted CNN from participating in the TV pool rotation. The other four networks in the pool, including ABC News, Fox News, CBS News and NBC News, suspended their participation in protest of the ban.

A CNN spokesperson said that the network has been allowed back into the pool, but the test will come later in the morning when Trump and Xi go to the National Archives, where the network is assigned to provide coverage as the in-town pooler. Unclear is whether Trump and Xi will view the original Bill of Rights and the First Amendment. CBS News is the primary TV pooler on duty on Friday.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered that the White House restore the press credentials of staffers from CNN, Politico and MS NOW. Trump banned the outlets from accessing any of the White House grounds, citing their negative coverage of the administration.