In a sweeping change to media access at the White House, the Trump administration has announced that it will now determine which journalists are allowed to participate in the White House press pool, sidelining the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), which has managed press access for over a century.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the announcement on Tuesday, stating that the administration is “giving power back to the people who read your papers, who watch your television shows, and who listen to your radio stations.”
“The White House Correspondents’ Association has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore,” Leavitt said. “Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team.”
While Leavitt assured that legacy media outlets would still have access, she emphasized that new outlets—previously excluded—would now have the opportunity to participate.
A Blow to Press Independence?
The move follows a judge’s recent ruling that granted the administration the authority to ban the Associated Press (AP) from pooled events. The White House barred the AP after it refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," a terminology dispute that has sparked concerns over government influence on press language.
WHCA President Eugene Daniels strongly condemned the administration’s decision, calling it a direct threat to press freedom.
“It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps,” Daniels said.
For over a century, the WHCA has organized press access to ensure fair and independent coverage of the presidency. Until now, journalists themselves determined the pool rotations, ensuring a broad and balanced representation of media perspectives. Daniels also noted that the administration did not notify the WHCA before making the change.
Shifting the Media Landscape
The Trump administration’s decision is part of its broader strategy to reshape the media environment. In January, officials added a “new media” seat to the White House briefing room to include independent journalists, podcasters, and social media influencers—groups often critical of mainstream outlets.
The move has drawn mixed reactions from journalists. Fox News senior White House correspondent and WHCA board member Jacqui Heinrich criticized the decision as one that consolidates power within the administration.
“The WHCA is democratically elected by the full-time White House press corps,” Heinrich wrote on X. “Only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have … to get the President’s message out to the largest possible audience.”
The White House’s Justification
The administration maintains that press access is a privilege, not a right. In a recent court filing against the AP, White House lawyers argued that “asking the president of the United States questions in the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One is a privilege granted to journalists, not a legal right.”
This latest shakeup raises significant questions about the future of White House press access. While the administration insists it is broadening media participation, critics warn that the government picking its own press pool could fundamentally alter the role of an independent press in holding the presidency accountable.
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