Press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday that the White House will now have the authority to select which reporters will be part of the press ‘pool’, a group of journalists granted access to restricted areas such as the Oval Office and Air Force One.
Previously, the White House Correspondents’ Association, a membership organization representing journalists from various outlets covering the White House, had been responsible for determining pool assignments in order to ensure that access was not controlled by the White House itself.
During President Donald Trump’s administration, the Associated Press was removed from the press pool after the wire service refused to change “Gulf of Mexico” to “Gulf of America” in the AP’s style guide, a decision that highlighted the tension between the White House and the media at that time.
Leavitt claimed during Tuesday’s briefing that the new move would ‘give even greater access to the American people.’
‘We want more outlets and new outlets to have a chance ot take part in the press pool, to cover the administration’s unprecedented achievements up close, front-and-center,’ she said.
She continued: ‘As you all know for decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists, 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,’ the 27-year-old press secretary said.
‘I am proud to announce that 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,’ Leavitt said. ‘Moving forward the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team.’
Traditionally the pool consists of a reporter from each of the three wire services – the Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg – a television crew and correspondent, a print reporter, a radio reporter and five still photographers, which also includes the AP.
There are 13 press seats available on Air Force One – and media outlets pay for their flights on board the presidential aircraft.
Nobody took the seats of the AP reporter and photographer who were booted from Trump’s Presidents’ Day weekend trip to Mar-a-Lago and Miami over the ‘Gulf of America’ drama.
Leavitt said Tuesday that ‘legacy outlets’ would still be allowed to join the pool.
‘But new voices are going to be welcomed in as well,’ she said.
The press secretary said that a TV crew would still be invited to join the pool, as would a print reporter – who represents both newspapers and online outlets – and a radio pooler.
DailyMail.com participates in the print pool rotation.
She said the White House would add in print and radio outlets ‘who have been denied access.’
‘And we will add additional outlets and reporters who are well-suited to cover the news of the day and ask substantive questions of the president of the United States,’ Leavitt said.
She didn’t say if the White House would continue to allow wire services to maintain a reporter in the pool every day.
Eugene Daniels, this year’s president of the WHCA, said in a statement that the Correspondents’ Association had been blindsided by the White House’s announcement.
‘To be clear, the White House did not give the WHCA board a heads up or have any discussions about today’s announcements,’ he said.
He also argued that the Trump White House wasn’t increasing access but rather picking and choosing which reporters got closest to the president.
‘This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,’ Daniels said. ‘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 offered.
He also noted that the WHCA has expanded ‘its pool rotations to facilitate the inclusion of new and emerging outlets.’
‘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,’ Daniels said.
Former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer personally blamed Daniels for the pool shake-up due to his decision to have Amber Ruffin headline April’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
‘If you are a member of the WHCA you might want direct blame towards your current President – Eugene Daniels – who proudly invited a Trump hating comedian to their annual leftist elitest dinner,’ Spicer posted Tuesday to X on the heels of Leavitt’s announcement.
The Trump White House had already elevated a number of niche right-wing outlets since taking office last month.
During his Monday press conference alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, the president first selected Real America’s Voice White House correspondent Brian Glenn, the boyfriend of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, to ask a question.
Glenn brought up a Harvard poll that showed Trump up 9-plus points and noted how the president was accomplishing his agenda, including ending the war in Ukraine.
‘If you can comment on the latest Harvard poll, I’d appreciate that,’ Glenn asked Trump, tossing the president an easy lay-up.
In another such instance, the president called on the Gateway Pundit’s Jordan Conradson at his press conference alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Conradson asked Modi: ‘I’m just curious, how much more confident are you with President Trump leading this country that there will be peace through strength and you will have a successful partnership with the United States – versus Biden’s incompetence and weakness over the last four years?’
Trump audibly laughed into the microphone.
‘That’s your question, but I’ll agree with you,’ the president answered. ‘I agree with you. Gross incompetence.’
During Leavitt’s first briefing, she said a seat usually reserved for White House staff would now be utilized by a member of the ‘new media.’
The seat has been reserved for a mix of outlets: more moderate start-ups like Axios and Semafor, popular podcasters and conservative media personalities.
On Friday the Associated Press sued three White House officials – Leavitt, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich – over the wire service’s banishment.
‘The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,’ the lawsuit said.
‘This targeted attack on the AP’s editorial independence and ability to gather and report the news strikes at the very core of the First Amendment,’ it continued. ‘This court should remedy it immediately.’
On Monday a federal judge refused to intervene and allow the AP back in the pool temporarily. The AP could still be successful in the case, of which the WHCA has filed an amicus brief.
That didn’t stop the White House from celebrating.
The TVs in the briefing room showed an image of the ‘Gulf of America’ stamped with the words ‘VICTORY.’
