White House shake-up: Press pool decision sparks controversy
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced that she will now decide on the composition of the presidential press pool, which consists of media representatives who cover the president's activities. Until now, this selection was made by the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA).
This decision has been criticized, with the WHCA accusing the administration of undermining press independence. "It’s beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925. A select group of DC-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House," Leavitt said during a press briefing at 11:00 GMT.
The change aims to provide reporters from newer media outlets access to White House events, a privilege previously reserved for a "narrow group of Washington journalists."
The WHCA, which has decided the pool's composition for decades, condemned this decision as an attack on press freedom. "This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States," WHCA President Eugene Daniels said in a statement.
Journalists criticise new policy
Other journalists, including Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, also criticised the decision, arguing that "this move does not give the power back to the people - it gives power to the White House." Some comments compared it to Kremlin policies, though similar practices are employed in other countries.
The change followed the Associated Press's exclusion from the pool for refusing to use the new name of the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump had renamed the American Gulf. The AP sued the White House, but a federal judge declined to block the administration's decision temporarily. The White House viewed this as a victory, emphasising that participation in the pool is a privilege, not a right.
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