Trump Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Drops Bombshell on White House Correspondents’ Association
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday that the White House Correspondents’ Association will no longer be deciding which outlets are part of press pools.
While discussing a federal judge declining to restore the Associated Press’ full access to the White House, Leavitt announced that the “White House team” will be making decisions on which outlets will be taking part in press events. The White House banned the Associated Press from events over the wire service’s refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” as the White House has pushed them to do.
“Fear not,” she told “legacy” media outlets in the room, saying they will continue to be on a rotation.
Leavitt announced:
“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. 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. 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. As part of these changes, we will continue the rotation amongst the five major television networks to ensure the president’s remarks are heard far and wide around this world. We will add additional streaming services which reach different audiences than traditional cable and broadcast.”
Leavitt did not specify any new outlets, but expressed motivation to bring in more radio hosts, as well as outlets that have “long been denied the privilege” to partake in the pool.
The WHCA was blindsided by Tuesday’s announcement, a source familiar told Mediaite. WHCA President Eugene Daniels later confirmed this in a statement responding to the White House.
The major shakeup surprised many in the media, some of whom took to social media to defend the WHCA, which is a 501(c)(3) organization run by journalists.
Leavitt accused the WHCA of holding a “monopoly over the privilege of press access.”
She said:
“This administration is shaking up Washington in more ways than one. This is what we are elected to do. It is beyond time that they white house press operation reflects the American people in 2025, not 1925. A select group of D.C.-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access to service seat at this highly coveted table. Deciding which outlets make up the limited press pool on a day-to-day basis, the White House will restore power to the American people who President Trump was elected to serve.”
In his response, Daniels condemned the White House’s actions and said the move “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,” he wrote.
Watch above via Fox News.
