WH Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Makes Huge Announcement
The Trump administration announced on Tuesday that the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) will no longer have control over which media organizations receive special access to the White House and the press briefing room.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the press team within the administration will now oversee access decisions, marking the end of the WHCA’s long-standing influence.
Leavitt reassured that the five major television networks would continue to broadcast White House events and that traditional media outlets closely tied to the WHCA would still be present at press briefings.
“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. Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team. Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not. But we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility,” Leavitt stated during Tuesday’s press briefing.
This policy change follows a lawsuit filed by The Associated Press against the Trump administration after being denied access to the briefing room, Air Force One, and other restricted areas. A federal judge ruled in favor of the White House on Monday.
Leavitt emphasized that the WHCA had come to represent a select group of “DC journalists” who no longer reflected the evolving news landscape or how Americans consume media.
“A select group of D.C.-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House. All journalists, outlets, and voices deserve a seat at this highly coveted table,” she said.
WHCA President Eugene Daniels, a former Kamala Harris campaign staffer, who also announced on Tuesday his upcoming role as an MSNBC host, criticized the White House’s decision in an official statement.
Daniels argued that this move “tears at the independence of a free press in the United States” and “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.”
The Trump administration had previously introduced a “new media seat” in the briefing room to expand access for digital news outlets. At Tuesday’s briefing, a journalist from the online publication Semafor was present.
Last week, the White House denied The Associated Press entry into the Oval Office and Air Force One after the outlet refused to recognize the renaming of the “Gulf of Mexico” to the “Gulf of America.”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich commented on X, stating, “The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press’ commitment to misinformation. While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One.”
“Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration. Associated Press journalists and photographers will retain their credentials to the White House complex,” Budowich added.
Julie Pace, senior vice president and executive editor of The Associated Press, addressed a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles after an AP journalist was denied entry to a White House event.
“The actions taken by this White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote, as reported by the AP. “It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say.”