White House Takes Direct Control Over Press Pool Access

In a significant policy shift, the White House has announced that it will now determine which media outlets can participate in the press pool, effectively removing the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) from its traditional role in overseeing press access.

The decision was confirmed by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who stated that the administration aims to broaden participation and ensure more media organizations have opportunities to cover the presidency.

“We want more outlets and new outlets to have a chance to take part in the press pool to cover this administration’s unprecedented achievements up close, front and center,” Leavitt said. “We are going to give the power back to the people who read your papers, who watch your television shows, and who listen to your radio stations.”

The announcement follows a federal court ruling on Monday that upheld the administration’s right to restrict Associated Press (AP) access to White House press events. Leavitt hailed the ruling, asserting that “covering the American presidency in the most intimate and limited spaces in this White House … is a privilege, it is not a legal right.” The AP has been barred since Trump signed an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, a change the AP has refused to recognize.

The WHCA condemned the White House’s decision, arguing that it undermines press freedom and was implemented without prior notice.

“Since its founding in 1914, the WHCA has sought to ensure that the reporters, photographers, producers, and technicians who actually do the work—365 days of every year—decide amongst themselves how these rotations are operated, so as to ensure consistent professional standards and fairness in access on behalf of all readers, viewers, and listeners,” said WHCA President Eugene Daniels, a correspondent for Politico.

This move grants the Trump administration direct control over the composition of the press pool, a departure from past practices where presidents typically refrained from barring media outlets outright. Trump has previously taken aggressive measures against media organizations he dislikes, including lawsuits and Federal Communications Commission actions against certain broadcasters. Now, with the White House dictating press access, the administration further consolidates its influence over its coverage.

The policy shift raises concerns about the future of press freedom in the United States and the balance of power between the executive branch and the media.

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