BREAKING: White House press team to determine press pool—not White House Correspondents Association

In an announcement during Tuesday's press briefing, she said that the White House would be opening up the White House press pool for "certain and special events." This "privileged access," she said, "is not a legal right for all." A federal judge agreed with the White House on Monday, perhaps only temporarily as a hearing is scheduled for March 20, that the ban is not worthy of an immediate reversal. It has long been the White House Correspondents Association that determines which press outlets get access.

"For decades," Leavitt said, "a group of DC-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," she continued, "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. 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 the exchanges, 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," Leavitt said.

"This administration is shaking up Washington in more ways than one," Leavitt said, after detailing the new kinds of access for local radio and others. "That's what we were elected to do. As I have said since the first day behind this podium, 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. All journalists, outlets and voices, deserve a seat at this highly coveted table. So by deciding which outlets make a limited press pool on a day-to-day basis, The White House will be restoring power back to the American people who President Trump was elected to serve."

In response to the news, Fox News' reporter, member of the press pool and on the board of the White House Correspondents Association Jacqui Heinrich said that the change was not actually as Leavitt had made it out to be.

"This move does not give the power back to the people - it gives power to the White House. The WHCA is democratically elected by the full-time White House press corps," Heinrich said. "WHCA has determined pools for decades because only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have - such as staffing - in order to get the President's message out to the largest possible audience, no matter the day or hour."

Under the Biden administration, over 400 reporters and outlets saw their press passes revoked. When President Joe Biden took questions from the press, he called on reporters who had been pre-authorized by his press team. Biden barely spoke to press, often refusing to take questions. New media did not have access to the Biden White House.

Already, since Inauguration Day, the Trump White House has seen more press conferences with the president, has seen the president take more questions than Biden ever did during his term in office. Even his would-be successor, Kamala Harris, had to be urged to speak to press once she took over his presidential campaign and made it her own.

In their response to court after the AP brought suit, the White House detailed exactly how the AP has not suffered any harm following their banishment from the special areas. The AP still has their press passes and are still permitted into the White House briefing room and on the grounds. They even have a front-row center seat in the James S. Brady Briefing Room where most reporters are content to stand without any dedicated seat. The AP has continued reporting from the White House, and has the White House notes. The White House has a pool system, where press who do get access share their notes, videos, and recordings with those who did not get access.

"Different media outlets receive special access to the President via the pool depending on whether it is an in-town events or an event at the White House..." reads the brief. "In either case, access continues to be quite limited so pool reporters share quotes, observations, and materials among those journalists unable to attend, and require no attribution. As this description underscores, the Associated Press has been afforded extra special access to the President via the pool system. It has, until recently, enjoyed special print and photographic seats in the special access pool above nearly all other media outlets—having two fixed seats in it."

As for that special seat that the AP used to enjoy as one of the 13 reporters granted access on Air Force One or one of the few outlets permitted to attend the president in the Oval Office, Leavitt said that space would be opened up to other outlets, perhaps even those in new media.