Political Guyentist
Political GuyentistThe blackout
Washington, D.C. · geographic locator. Coastlines: Natural Earth.
A group of reporters raise their hands and point while holding phones and cameras inside an ornate room.

September 23, 2026 · Six stories, illustrated

01The blackoutWashington · First Amendment

Five television networks suspend White House pool coverage as Trump launches a 24/7 stream.

The five networks in the White House pool suspended joint coverage after the Secret Service deactivated badges for CNN, MS NOW and Politico on Saturday, Sept. 19. The administration answered at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 21 by launching Trump TV, a 24/7 YouTube stream.

Keep scrolling. You set the pace.

Photograph: PBS NewsHour

Judge Timothy Kelly hears the emergency request on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 3:30 p.m. ET.

The five networks go dark and the White House launches its own feed
24/7Trump TVYouTube stream · launched 7 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 21
ABC
CBS
CNN
Fox News
NBC

Pool coverage suspendedThe five television networks in the White House pool

  • CNNWhite House hard passDeactivated
  • MS NOWWhite House hard passDeactivated
  • PoliticoWhite House hard passDeactivated

  1. Trump announced the ban on Truth Social

  2. Secret Service deactivated badges for CNN, MS NOW and Politico

  3. The five television networks suspend joint pool coverage

  4. The administration launched Trump TV, a 24/7 YouTube stream

  5. Judge Timothy Kelly hears the emergency request

In court · Judge Timothy Kelly

3Reporters joined as plaintiffs

Betsy Klein, Akayla Gardner and Cheyenne Haslett

4Defendants named

Trump, Wiles, Cheung and Curran

Read the reporting3 sources
Trump addresses the 81st UN General Assembly in a dark suit and red tie, gesturing at a podium.

02The dietNew York · United Nations

Trump pitches UN budget cuts to the 81st General Assembly — with $130 million unaccounted for.

Trump addressed the 81st UN General Assembly on Tuesday, Sept. 22, seeking to shrink the body while meeting 11 world leaders. The Iran war has run nearly seven months.

Photograph: TIME

Officials claim $1 billion in cuts, 3,000 eliminated positions and the departure of more than a quarter of UN peacekeepers.

UN budget cuts, staff departures and 11 leader meetings
  1. $1 billionin claimed UN budget cuts. Each block is $1 million: 1,000 blocks.
  2. $870 millionPolitico traced between regular and peacekeeping funds: 870 blocks.
  3. roughly $130 millionunaccounted for: the 130 outlined blocks at the top.

$1 billionin claimed UN budget cuts

$870MPolitico traced between regular and peacekeeping funds

  1. 3,000eliminated headquarters positions
  2. more than a quarterof UN peacekeepers to be sent home
  3. 11world leaders on Trump's meeting schedule

Bar drawn to scale from $0 to the claimed $1 billion. Politico's total covers regular and peacekeeping funds.

Read the reporting3 sources
Rubio appears in close-up wearing a dark suit, patterned red tie, and American flag lapel pin.

03The offerTehran · Islamabad

Iran offers to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — if the U.S. lifts its blockade.

Iran offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the U.S. lifts its naval blockade. Traffic fell to two visible cargo vessels and at least two crew were injured.

Photograph: Reuters

Secretary Marco Rubio says no UN meeting is scheduled, but Pakistani mediators are shuttling in Tehran. The offer lapses Sept. 29.

Iran's offer, the strait traffic and the unanswered deadline

Iran's offer

If
the U.S. eases military pressure and lifts its naval blockade
Then
Iran reopens the Strait of Hormuz within 7 days
Lapses
Sept. 29deadline for the seven-day reopening offer to lapse
  1. 23This issue
  2. 24
  3. 25
  4. 26
  5. 27
  6. 28
  7. 29Lapses
Six days from this issue to the lapse date. Trump said talks could resume in Pakistan by Thursday, Sept. 24.
North-up map of the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and Oman. Coastlines: Natural Earth.

  1. The Strait of Hormuzbetween Iran and Oman · Natural Earth coastlines, north up

  2. 2 shipsvisible cargo vessels in the strait on Tuesday, Sept. 22

    Each light is one vessel. Positions are illustrative, not tracked.

No meeting

Secretary Rubio says no UN meeting with Iran is scheduled, but Pakistan's interior minister is shuttling between Tehran and the parties.

Read the reporting3 sources
Flames and dense smoke engulf rooftops as firefighters battle a nighttime blaze among urban buildings.

04The truceNew York · Kyiv · Moscow

Zelensky asks Trump for a mutual halt on energy and port strikes — Macron pitches two plans.

Zelensky pressed for a mutual halt as Emmanuel Macron also urged Trump to back the plan. Russian strikes killed four people in at least four regions overnight.

Photograph: NBC News

CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Zelensky in Ireland on Sept. 22. The House passed tariffs on Russian oil buyers 262-159.

The energy-strike truce request and the strikes that continued

262for

159against

The House vote on tariffs for buyers of Russian oil; Trump signed the legislation Sept. 19. One dot per vote cast (421). Schematic, not a seating plan.

Talks

Strikes

  1. Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner opened peace talks in Kyiv and Moscow.

  2. Trump announced a Russia-Ukraine energy truce.

  3. Conditional

    Trump announced a Russia-Ukraine energy truce on Sept. 15, but Kyiv called it conditional as strikes continued.

  4. Trump signed legislation authorizing tariffs on buyers of Russian oil after the House passed it 262-159.

  5. CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Zelensky in Ireland; Emmanuel Macron pitched 2 plans to Trump.

  6. 4killed overnight by Russian strikesat least4regions hit as Ukraine seeks more Patriot systems

Dates placed to scale, Sept. 7–23. The House vote bar shows 262-159 as a share of votes cast.

Read the reporting3 sources
Trump, wearing a dark suit and red tie, speaks while seated with an American flag behind him.

05The holdWashington · Yemen · Saudi Arabia

Trump canceled planned Houthi strikes three hours before launch — Britain steps in to refuel Saudi jets.

U.S. military leaders split over opening a second front while the Houthis pushed into southern Yemen. Britain will refuel Saudi jets as U.S. missile stocks run low.

Photograph: NBC News

On Sept. 9 the Houthis hit four Saudi cities, wounding 73 and shutting a 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery. Over 100,000 people fled.

Canceled U.S. strikes, British refueling and the rebel advance

3hours before launch when Trump canceled the strikes

  1. Launch The planned U.S. strikes on the Houthis.
  2. −3 h Canceled three hours before launch.
  3. Then U.S. missile stocks run low; Britain will refuel Saudi jets.

What the Houthi strikes shut, in rated capacity (barrels a day)

Sept. 9 Jazan refinery · 4 cities hit, 73 wounded

400K b/d

Sept. 12 East-West pipeline, shut by drone strikes

7M b/d

Same scale. Rated capacity of the facilities shut, not a measure of oil lost.

one RAF Voyager

Britain will use to refuel Saudi jets for several weeks, as U.S. missile stocks run low

100,000+

people fled as the rebels opened a new front. Each dot is 1,000 people.

Read the reporting3 sources
An airport control tower rises above terminal structures, roadway signs, streetlights, and vehicles beneath an overcast sky.

06The cutPhiladelphia · New York

A severed backup fiber grounds flights at four Northeast airports — 267 delayed departures at Newark.

The failure of a primary circuit and a severed backup fiber at a Philadelphia radar center delayed or canceled more than 6,000 flights before technicians repaired the cable.

Photograph: PBS NewsHour

Repairs took 13 hours; 267 Newark departures were delayed. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed an Amtrak crew.

Four airports, one cut cable and a 13-hour repair
Primary circuitFailed
Backup Verizon fiberSevered
Philadelphia radar center

4Northeast airports: JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Philadelphia

  1. JFKFlights grounded
  2. LaGuardiaFlights grounded
  3. Newark Liberty267 delayed departures
  4. PhiladelphiaFlights grounded

More than 6,000 flights delayed or canceled nationwide

13 hours to repair the severed Verizon cable

More than 6,000 flights were delayed or canceled nationwide before technicians repaired the severed Verizon cable.

  1. More than 6,000flights delayed or canceled nationwide. Each light is one flight: 6,000 lights.
  2. 267delayed departures at Newark Liberty, the amber lights among them.
  3. 13 hoursto repair the severed cable. The lights stay grounded on this scale; no recovery is drawn.
Read the reporting3 sources