While President Donald Trump continued to sign Executive Orders, slash the federal workforce and hold meetings with foreign leaders, a major shift in the White House briefing room sparked a firestorm over press freedom.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that going forward, White House staff will determine which media outlets have access to the president.
"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 said from the podium in the James S. Brady Briefing Room.
For nearly a century, a press "pool" has followed the president every day and reported his movements, words and actions to the broader press corps through dispatches known as pool reports. This rotating group of journalists, from print, radio and television outlets, as well as photographers, often has the chance to ask the president questions directly.
However, Leavitt stated this week that the White House Correspondents Association, which has coordinated the pool assignments since the 1950s, would no longer have a "monopoly" over the pool.
"By deciding which outlets make up the limited press pool on a day-to-day basis, the White House will be restoring power back to the American people who President Trump was elected to serve," Leavitt said.
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The change sparked outcry from White House reporters. Jacqui Heinrich, a Fox News correspondent and WHCA board member, posted on X, "This move does not give power back to the people, it gives power to the White House."
And New York Times reporter Peter Baker compared the move to the Kremlin's takeover of Russian media.
In a statement, WHCA President Eugene Daniels said the move "tears at the independence of a free press in the United States."
Later Tuesday, President Trump doubled down on the decision, stating, "We're going to be calling the shots."
Leavitt's announcement came after the Associated Press sued Leavitt and other administration officials for blocking its reporters from pool coverage after the news organization said it would continue to use the name "Gulf of Mexico" while acknowledging Trump's new name "Gulf of America."
A judge on Monday refused to immediately order the White House to restore the AP's access to presidential events. A final ruling is still to come.
