Trump Bars CNN From White House, Networks Boycott Helipad Event, and the President Eyes Midterms With $400 Million

President Trump cut the ribbon on his new White House helicopter landing pad Monday using oversized gold scissors, shook hands with construction crews in hardhats, and boarded Marine One for New York without taking questions, according to the Associated Press. No network cameras were there to capture it.

ABC, CBS, CNN and Fox News jointly agreed to skip the ceremony after Trump announced Friday he was barring CNN, MS Now and Politico from White House coverage, the AP reported. CNN normally rotates into the five-network press pool that covers the president's daily activities. When CNN was blocked from taking its slot Monday, the other networks chose solidarity over access.

All three banned outlets have sued to restore their credentials, the AP reported. No court has ruled on the matter yet. The lawsuit is the latest escalation in Trump's ongoing effort, through courts and administrative action, to limit coverage from outlets he considers hostile.

Presidents don't get to hand-pick which outlets cover the people's house based on how flattering the coverage is. At the same time, the AP noted Trump's team has downplayed the standoff as routine business, and the helipad ceremony went forward regardless of who filmed it.

The Helipad Itself

Trump has touted the helipad's granite as having a "million-year life" and added a large presidential seal insignia, according to the AP. He's framed the project partly as a showpiece for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is scheduled to arrive Wednesday, September 24, for a state visit.

The AP noted Trump made similar durability claims about his Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation, which he said would last a century, only for the paint to fade and the liner to peel within days of installation.

$400 Million and 35 Races

At a White House Rose Garden dinner, Trump told Republican officials he'll spend the final stretch before the midterms working 35 competitive congressional races, according to the Daily Signal. His aligned super PAC, MAGA Inc., has more than $400 million on hand, funded by nearly $800 million in contributions since 2024 based on Wall Street Journal reporting and Federal Election Commission filings cited by the Daily Signal.

Trump named specific candidates he's backing, including Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska, Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate race, and Mike Rogers in Michigan, where Vice President JD Vance already rallied on his behalf, per the Daily Signal. He said he'd skip safe seats like House Speaker Mike Johnson's Louisiana district and focus on races that are close or tied.

The Transactional Pattern

Trump's spending pledge lands alongside comments CNN flagged as part of a broader pattern of tying official government action to political outcomes. At a September 16 rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, Trump told the crowd he'd withhold disaster aid if the state elected a Democrat to the Senate, then said he was joking, according to CNN.

Whether that was a joke or a genuine threat is unresolved, and reasonable people can read it either way. What's documented: an AP investigation this year found blue states waited longer for disaster aid and were denied more often, and a July 15 Energy Department legal filing acknowledged it canceled clean-energy grants based on whether a state was "Blue" or "non-Blue," per CNN's reporting. The White House told the AP there is no politicization in the president's disaster relief decisions. That denial deserves to be weighed alongside the documented pattern, not dismissed.

Heading Into the UN

Trump is scheduled to address the UN General Assembly Tuesday, September 22, with his approval rating below 40 percent amid economic fallout from the Iran conflict, according to WYSO. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz told reporters Trump will emphasize peace deals and his Iran policy, including preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to speak the following day.

On social media, Trump has also floated turning his planned Washington triumphal arch into a facility for drone storage and sniper positions, a proposal the Guardian and Axios both flagged, with Axios noting the national-security framing could complicate future legal challenges to the project. Whether Congress or the courts push back on that plan, and whether the CNN, MS Now and Politico lawsuit succeeds in restoring their access, are the two concrete threads to watch as the midterm campaign accelerates over the next six weeks.