United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz pushed back sharply on Sunday after CNN anchor Jake Tapper made an on-air appeal for Waltz to ask President Trump to restore CNN’s access to the White House press pool. The exchange, which aired on CNN’s “State of the Union,” drew wide attention after Tapper made his request directly to Waltz near the end of the interview.
Tapper told Waltz that the White House had barred CNN from fulfilling its pool assignment on behalf of the five major television networks the previous day. Pool coverage is shared among major outlets and their affiliates, meaning CNN’s exclusion affected broader distribution of official event coverage.
Tapper’s On-Air Appeal to Waltz
Before you go, sir, I just want to note, yesterday, the White House barred CNN from fulfilling our pool assignment on behalf of the five major television networks,” Tapper said. And I would just ask if you could please convey to President Trump to let CNN back in the pool. It was not OK when President Obama tried to freeze FOX out of the pool back in 2009. And I don’t think we want a world where presidents decide who gets to cover them.”
CNN had previously told its audience that no outlet was covering pool responsibilities during its exclusion. In fact, Real America’s Voice had stepped in to handle those duties, according to CNN White House press pool exclusion.
Waltz’s Response on Press Fairness
Waltz did not offer to carry the message to Trump, instead redirecting the conversation to what he called a broader problem with media accuracy. “Well, I hear you, Jake, but I think we need fair, and objective, and well-sourced reporting,” he said. “We need a free and fair and honest press corps without an agenda that tries to take facts to fit a narrative.”
Waltz also alluded to reporting on former President Biden’s cognitive decline, noting coverage that he said was “whitewashed” before corrections emerged later, a pointed reference to Tapper’s own book on the subject, which was published after Biden left office. Waltz also mentioned “a story where anonymous sources were referring to a now-dead senator” as an example of the reporting problems he described.
When Tapper suggested the White House was blocking outlets for negative coverage, Waltz rejected the framing. “There are over what, 50 seats in the press room. I don’t think all of them, like Washington Post or New York Times, are exactly positive towards this administration. So that’s a false narrative that it’s about negative reporting. We need fair and objective reporting for the country. And that’s President Trump’s point.”
What Comes Next for CNN’s Access
Tapper acknowledged that every president has expressed frustration with the press, though the exchange ended without any commitment from Waltz to advocate for CNN’s reinstatement. The White House has not publicly outlined conditions for restoring the network’s pool credentials.
CNN’s access to future pool assignments remains unresolved, and the dispute is likely to keep pressure on the White House press office as other major networks watch how the administration handles rotating pool responsibilities going forward.
