‘MAGA-Coded’ CBS Refuses to Air Non-Pool Trump Footage

Jorge Bonilla
September 21st, 2026 11:48 PM

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The Elite Media continue to find ways to make themselves the story. This is particularly true after CNN, Politico, and MS NOW found themselves without access to The White House. With no official pool footage available due to the other networks refusing to pick up the slack for CNN, CBS found a way to perform the media ban for its viewers.

Watch as Ed O’Keefe does his usual White House roundup from CBS’s New York studio:

 

 

CBS EVENING NEWS

9/21/26

6:34 PM

TONY DOKOUPIL: President Trump is in New York City today meeting with the mayor and preparing for the U.N. General Assembly tomorrow. But he is also in the middle of a fight, making it difficult to cover any of that as business as usual our Ed O'Keefe is here tonight with more and Ed, you’re at the table on this trip, because we don't have a lot of pictures of the trip to show the good people. Can you tell us why?

ED O’KEEFE: That's right, Tony. Well, look. There's a five-network consortium including CBS that pools footage including all presidential movements and events. When The White House denied CNN its ability to serve as pooler today, the other networks refused to step in. So when he revealed the new helipad at The White House today, something he frequently boasts about, there was no network TV coverage. And the same for his trip up here to New York. He appeared briefly in front of local New York TV cameras after his meeting with the mayor this afternoon. All of this is unprecedented, but so was the president's move Friday to ban CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from working on White House grounds simply because he objected to what he called their negative coverage. Those outlets filed suit this morning, calling for their access to be restored, and a judge could rule as soon as Wednesday.

DOKOUPIL: And Ed, the president this weekend gave an update on the arch that he’s going to build near Arlington cemetery. You’ve asked him about this in the past. 

O’KEEFE: That’s right. He likes to talk-

DOKOUPIL: What do we know?

O’KEEFE: The Arc de Trump, as some call it, he is now saying it will be a top-grade military complex and critical for national security because it would also house a large number of drones, snipers on the roof, and store sniper ammunition. Remember, this is slated to be 260 feet tall and on the flight path to nearby Reagan National Airport, the FAA signed off before Trump released these details saying it would not be a hazard. But a Virginia Democratic congressman said having a drone launching site in the landing path is a dangerous, unworkable idea. Construction of the arch is supposed to start this month but, Tony, it still faces legal challenges.

DOKOUPIL: Ed, thank you very much. Good to have you at the table. Appreciate it.

The entire segment was performed from within the studio, with no footage or B-roll coming from The White House. Of course, there was footage available. Real America’s Voice (RAV) had the secondary pool duty, so there was footage available. CBS just chose not to air it.

ABC and NBC took different approaches to avoiding having to show RAV’s footage. ABC used video from President Trump’s Gracie Mansion meeting with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani:

 

 

NBC took a different approach for Kelly O’Donnell’s report: showing Newsmax footage but only to showcase its lack of sound:

 

 

Each of the three Elite Media network newscasts took a different approach to performing solidarity with CNN. Will this solidarity last? It isn’t clear. A prolonged self-imposed lockout will further erode these networks’ claims to gatekeeper status. 

As for CBS, the so-called ‘MAGA-aligned’ network, its performance was the most dramatic. Will the Media Hall Monitors now favorably look upon the Bari Weiss-run newscast? Don't count on it.

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