White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Tuesday that the White House press office will choose which outlets get to cover the president in close quarters, replacing the decision-making authority that has long rested with the 100-year-old White House Correspondents Association.
This development followed the White House announcement last week that it was removing the Associated Press wire service from pool coverage and close access to the president. Soon after, the AP sued Leavitt and two other top White House officials in response.
Leavitt said the five networks that make up the current daily television rotation — ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News and NBC News — would continue to be a part of the pool, but yet-to-be-announced “streaming” services would be added to the rotation, which requires one network to provide video of an event for all the participants in the pool. Leavitt also said other new outlets would also be added to the print pool rotation.
“We want more outlets and new outlets to have a chance to take part in the press pool to cover this administration’s unprecedented achievements up close, front and center,” Leavitt said during Tuesday’s White House press briefing. “As you all know, for decades, a group of D.C.-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.”
“I am proud to announce that 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. Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team,” Leavitt said.
Leavitt did not disclose which new outlets the White House would add to the daily press pool rotation. The daily press pool, which is a rotation, covers the president’s movements in the Oval Office and elsewhere on the grounds. It travels with him whenever he leaves the White House, whether that’s across town to a federal agency or across the globe, at the expense of the news outlets. News organizations pay for seats aboard Air Force One and for other coverage-related costs. It’s unclear when the new rotation will be implemented.
Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents Association, said in a statement that the White House’s decision “tears at the independence of a free press in the United States.”
“It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president,” Daniels said. “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”
Daniels said the White House didn’t give the WHCA board advance notice of its decision.
“For generations, the working journalists elected to lead the White House Correspondents’ Association board have consistently expanded the WHCA’s membership and its pool rotations to facilitate the inclusion of new and emerging outlets,” Daniels added.
The announcement comes four days after the AP sued Leavitt, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich over the White House’s decision to restrict its access to the president. The White House restricted the AP’s access after the news outlet’s stylebook declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as “The Gulf of America,” a new name announced by President Trump by executive order. The WHCA filed an amicus brief in support of the AP.
On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden, who was appointed by President Trump, said the AP’s circumstances were “not the type of dire situation” that requires emergency intervention, but he did order an expedited hearing to consider an injunction against the Trump administration. The case is still being litigated.
“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,” Leavitt said Tuesday. “It is not a legal right for all.”
The WHCA, a nonprofit organization that represents more than 400 journalists covering the White House, has long decided which outlets are a part of the pool rotation covering presidents, and who sits in which chairs in the White House briefing room.
