White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday that the White House press team will now determine who is in the “pool” of reporters following the president, a duty that has long been left to the association of reporters that cover the White House.

The move stripes the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) of its role in picking what it describes as the “small team of writers, photographers and technicians assigned each day to cover the commander-in-chief on behalf of the broader corps of correspondents.”

It is the latest salvo in a clash between the Trump White House and the organization, which is currently led by a reporter from Politico.

“For decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists — 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. I am proud to announce that we are going to give power back to the people who read your papers, who watch your television shows, and who listen to your radio stations,” Leavitt said.

BREAKING: @PressSec announces that the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team, not the WHCA:

"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." pic.twitter.com/XkSDi7MDCa

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) February 25, 2025

“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 added. “Just like we added a new media seat in this briefing room, legacy media outlets who have been here for years will still participate in the pool, but new voices are going to be welcomed in as well.”

While “new media” gained access to press briefings this past month, the WHCA’s ability to select who participates in the press pool was challenged when the Trump White House barred Associated Press reporters from “pooled” events in the Oval Office and Air Force One over its refusal to use the abide by the administration’s preference for the name Gulf of America over the Gulf of Mexico. The WHCA backed the AP in a lawsuit against the White House.

Politico’s Eugene Daniels, who is president of the WHCA, responded to the White House press pool decision with a statement that said: “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.”

The pool is often able to shape the news by determining what questions are asked of the president during daily events, which are usually only accessible to pool reporters. White House reporters not granted access to the pool are mostly confined to the press briefing room, where there are only a few briefings each week.

The WHCA also determines who is given a permanent seat in the briefing room.