White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday that her office would be taking away the “monopoly” power the White House Correspondents’ Association has wielded over who covers President Donald Trump.
Leavitt’s pronouncement came a day after a federal judge ruled against the Associated Press, which had sought a temporary restraining order barring the White House from denying the news outlet access to certain special events.
The AP currently is insisting on calling the Gulf of America the “Gulf of Mexico,” which provoked the ire of Trump and his team.
The WHCA represents the traditional media outlets that cover the White House and mostly tend to have a leftward bias.
Leavitt told reporters Tuesday that the court ruling “reiterates what I said from this podium last week when that suit was filed.”
“Asking the president of the United States questions in limited spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One is a privilege that unfortunately has only been granted to a few,” she said. “It is not a legal right for all.”
The AP still has its front row seat to cover White House press briefings and access to work on the grounds.
.@PressSec Karoline Leavitt: “For decades 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 in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore.” pic.twitter.com/B4vbNmklyH
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 25, 2025
Leavitt explained why the White House press office would now be taking over the WHCA’s job of picking which reporters make up the pool to cover Trump at special events.
“For decades 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 in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore,” she said.
“Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team,” Leavitt said.
However, the press secretary noted that the five major television outlets will continue to rotate through the pool so that there is always someone to capture video of what happens during a special event, such as Trump’s Oval Office meeting on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We will add additional streaming services, which reach different audiences than traditional cable and broadcast. This is the ever-changing landscape of the media in the United States today,” Leavitt said.
The pool for special events will include print and radio reporters as well, she added, before again indicating that the White House will be adding new outlets to the mix.
“This administration is shaking up Washington in more ways than one. That is what we were elected to do,” Leavitt said.
“A select group of D.C.-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House,” she added.
The left-wing outlets that dominate the D.C. media of course will report the decision as a power grab, and another example of Trump’s dictatorial tendencies.
For example, Politico headlined, “White House seizes control of press pool, will decide which outlets cover events with president.” But that makes it sound like a much bigger move than it is, suggesting that such will happen in all cases rather than mostly in limited spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One.
Trump’s press team is trying to bring a little more balance to the White House beat and there’s nothing wrong with that.
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