The White House said it will now decide which news organizations are allowed to join the press briefing that covers the president, taking control from the journalists’ group that has run it for decades. The change allows the administration to decide which reporters get access to important presidential events.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for President Donald Trump, said that the president would continue to be covered by traditional media, but that the selection process would be altered. The press pool system enables assigned journalists from television, radio, wire services, print, and photojournalists to report from limited-space areas, including the Oval Office, and share their stories with the rest of the media.
AP Excluded from Pool Over Gulf of Mexico Naming Dispute
The move follows the Trump administration’s exclusion of the Associated Press (AP) from the press pool. The AP declined to embrace Trump’s preferred nomenclature for the Gulf of Mexico—the “Gulf of America”—or revise its popularly used stylebook to include the change.
“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,” Leavitt said at a press briefing.
A group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents’ Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States.
Not anymore.
Today, I was proud to announce that we are giving the power back to the people.
Moving… pic.twitter.com/PkNui6Qleu
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) February 25, 2025
“Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team,” she said.
WHCA Declares the Action a Threat to Press Freedom
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) emphasized its commitment to maintaining professionalism. WHCA has previously managed the press pool selection process. It stated that the selection process was designed to ensure impartiality in media access. WHCA President Eugene Daniels condemned the administration’s action, cautioning that it taints the independence of the press.
This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. 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.
Reuters, which is part of the press pool, said that its reporters are also members of the WHCA.
White House to Include Streaming Services and New Media
Leavitt clarified that major cable and broadcast television networks would retain their rotating seats in the press pool. The White House also plans to introduce streaming services and expand access to new media outlets and radio hosts. Print and radio reporters currently in the rotation will continue to be included.
“We’re going to be now calling the shots,” Trump said in the Oval Office when asked about the changes.
