In a seismic shift in media policy, the Trump administration announced Tuesday that the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) will no longer determine which ‘journalists’ and outlets have access to the White House press pool.
Instead, the White House press team will take charge of deciding who gets to cover President Trump in key settings like the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One.
In other words, no more gatekeeping.
The decision marks a break from decades of the legacy media having a monopoly on access to the President.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the announcement during a briefing, framing it as a move to democratize press access and better reflect the modern media habits of Americans.
The best thing about this clip of Karoline Leavitt announcing that the WHCA no longer controls which media orgs are allowed in the briefings is the audible groan from Legacy Media hacks at :16
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) February 25, 2025
😂pic.twitter.com/O1KtrQb4WT
“I’m proud to announce that we are going to give the power back to the people who read your papers, who watch television shows, and who listen to your radio stations,” Leavitt said.
She asserted that the WHCA clique has maintained a “monopoly” over press access that no longer aligns with how people consume news in 2025.
Under the new policy, legacy media outlets including television networks and wire services—will remain part of the press pool rotation. However, the administration plans to expand access to include “new media” voices like digital outlets, streaming services, and radio hosts, many of whom Leavitt said have been “long denied the privilege” of covering the White House up close.
While specific details about the selection process were not outlined, Leavitt emphasized that the change aims to diversify the pool beyond the traditional elite.
The move caught the WHCA off guard, with a source telling Mediaite that the organization was “blindsided” by the announcement.
WHCA President Eugene Daniels responded with a statement condemning the decision, calling it a threat to press independence.
“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” Daniels proclaimed, warning that it “suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president.”
He further claimed that “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
But then again he would say that. Because this is him:
I don't like his taste in purses. pic.twitter.com/r2qZhrfadM
— Dastardly Jules (@levi20802) February 26, 2025
This is MSNBC’s newest anchor: pic.twitter.com/wmAo3nIG68
— Global Index (@TheGlobal_Index) February 26, 2025
The backdrop to this shakeup includes a recent spat with the Associated Press, which the White House barred from certain events after the outlet refused to adopt the administration’s preferred term, “Gulf of America,” over “Gulf of Mexico.”
Leavitt leaned into this tension, accusing the WHCA of supporting a narrow group of insiders and failing to represent the broader public.
The AP got benched, and now the WHCA will no longer prop up a cozy insider club.
“It is beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the American people in 2025, not 1925,” Leavitt declared, adding “The press room’s about to look a lot more like America.”
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