The White House shook up the press pool that covers President Donald J. Trump, and the changes have eliminated the spot that’s normally reserved for wire services, including the Associated Press.
On Tuesday, multiple media outlets reported on the new press pool rules, which come after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore access to the AP, which had been banned from covering some presidential events since February in a flap over the organization’s deadnaming of the Gulf of America.
Instead of restoring access to The Associated Press newswire, as required by a federal judge, the Trump administration is removing the wire position in the daily press corps rotation altogether.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 16, 2025
“From now on, the White House will set aside a second slot for ‘print’ outlets — now including wire journalists — in the rotating group of reporters who get access to President Trump in small event spaces,” according to the New York Post, which first broke the news. Also impacted by the change are Reuters and Bloomberg.
“The makeup of the pool is far more reflective of the media habits of the American people in 2025,” an unnamed senior White House official told the New York Post. “The White House press policy continues to be grounded in fairness for all outlets that wish to cover the White House.”
The shakeup seems to take advantage of a loophole in US District Judge Trevor McFadden’s ruling that the AP “cannot be treated worse than its peer wire services,” and in eliminating the spot, they are all being treated equally.
An unnamed White House official told The Hill that “eligible outlets will be chosen for the pool on a rotating basis, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will retain day-to-day discretion to determine composition of the pool.” Wire services are eligible to be selected as part of the daily print pool rotation, but will no longer have the permanent spot set aside for them.
“We are deeply disappointed that the administration has chosen to restrict the access of all wire services, whose fast and accurate White House coverage informs billions of people every single day, rather than reinstate The AP to the wire pool,” the Associated Press whined to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.
“The wire services represent thousands of news organizations across the U.S. and the world over,” the organization added. “Our coverage is used by local newspapers and television stations in all 50 states to inform their communities. The administration’s actions continue to disregard the fundamental American freedom to speak without government control or retaliation. This is a grave disservice to the American people.”
Reuters also cried to CNN about the cruelty of it all.
“It is essential to democracy that the public have access to independent, impartial, and accurate news about their government. Any steps by the U.S. government to limit access to the President threaten that principle, both for the public and the world’s media,” the organization said.
“The White House press secretary shall retain day-to-day discretion to determine composition of the pool,” Leavitt said in a memorandum. “This is necessary to ensure that the president’s message reaches targeted audiences and that outlets with applicable subject-matter expertise are present as events warrant.”
