DOMINANT ANGLE
Jakarta is particularly mindful of the unprecedented solidarity of five major rival American networks, united against the White House, more so than the details of the lawsuit filed by CNN, MS NOW and Politico.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
CNN, MS NOW and Politico announced on Monday, September 21, 2026, that they would be taking legal action in the federal court of Washington DC on behalf of the First Amendment, with a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, September 23, 2026
- 02
Five major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News and their peers) withdrew from the presidential pool on Monday; the head of Fox News' Washington bureau, Bryan Boughton, warned that "no replacement pool will be formed"
- 03
The White House launched "Trump TV", a continuous YouTube stream featuring the "greatest moments" of the administration, compared by critics to North Korean state TV
ANALYSIS
Jakarta, September 22, 2026. For the Indonesian press, the case first retains an unprecedented image: five major American networks, long-time competitors, aligned on the same day against the White House. CNN Indonesia reports that the White House has withdrawn the press credentials of journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico after Trump's order on Friday, September 18, 2026, to ban these three newsrooms from the presidential premises; the badges stopped working over the weekend. On Monday, September 21, the three media outlets announced that they would be taking legal action in the federal court of Washington DC, citing the First Amendment: "This morning, we informed the government that we are taking legal action today to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes," they said, as quoted by Tempo. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, September 23, 2026.
On the same Monday, five major networks - ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, and their peers - released a rare joint statement and withdrew from the presidential pool. The head of Fox News' Washington bureau, Bryan Boughton, as quoted by CNN Indonesia via the Sydney Morning Herald, warned that "no replacement pool will be formed," leaving uncertain the television coverage of Trump's trip to the UN General Assembly in New York and his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Associated Press announced that it would continue to cover Trump at the UN.
In response to the boycott, the White House launched "Trump TV," a continuous YouTube broadcast presented as gathering the "greatest moments" of the administration - a device that critics compare, according to CNN Indonesia, to North Korean state television. On social media, Trump assured that he was not targeting "the free press" but waging "an assault on FAKE NEWS, which has spread like cancer." Vice President JD Vance, on his part, described the three media outlets as extreme left-wing propaganda. Tempo recalls that Trump had already, in 2017, described the press as "the enemy of the American people."
