White House wrests control of presidential press pool from correspondents

In a break with more than a century of practice, the White House Correspondents’ Association will no longer control the press pool covering the president, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced during a news briefing on Feb. 25, 2025.

The pool — a 13-member group of reporters and photojournalists who travel with and cover the president’s daily activities — has traditionally been overseen by the WHCA to ensure that access isn’t limited to those covering the sitting administration favorably.

Leavitt’s announcement came amid a legal fight between The Associated Press and the White House over the news agency’s exclusion since Feb. 11 from events on Air Force One, in the Oval Office and other pool-only areas in retaliation for its editorial policy on referring to the Gulf of Mexico.

Reporters and photojournalists for the AP have historically been included in the White House pool rotation, and the WHCA filed a brief in support of the AP’s case Feb. 23.

Leavitt announced during the Feb. 25 briefing that her team will take over assigning the pool, stating that “For decades a group of DC-based journalists — the White House Correspondents Association — has dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore.

“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 continued, noting that asking the president questions is a privilege and “awesome responsibility.”

She emphasized that the rotations of broadcast, print and radio journalists would continue, but would include streaming services, local radio hosts and print outlets that are “committed” to covering the White House.

The WHCA warned against the press freedom implications of the move and pushed back against Leavitt’s justification for the change in a statement on the social platform X.

“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels said. “In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”

The organization also noted that it has worked to keep pace with the evolving media environment while ensuring “consistent professional standards and fairness in access.”

The decision was criticized by multiple White House correspondents. Peter Baker, chief White House reporter for The New York Times, wrote, “Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access.”