“Our team will work diligently to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked.”
During the first White House briefing of the incoming Trump administration, Karoline Leavitt announced that new media will have a seat at the table for the Trump administration's White House press briefings, and that the 440 reporters who had their media passes taken away by the Biden White House will have them reinstated.
During her announcements, Leavitt pointed out the packed press room, saying that reporters, TikTok influencers, and more, will be able to access Trump during his second term. Leavitt also announced that the 440 reporters who had their press badges removed by the Biden administration will have their credentials reinstated.
"This White House believes strongly in the First Amendment. It's why our team will work diligently to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked by the previous administration,” Leavitt said, and emphasized the drop in trust of legacy media.
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View on X“We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators for credentials to cover this White House,” Leavitt added.
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View on XAmong the changes coming to the White House briefing room is a “new media seat” where the White House will give priority to some younger outlets that do not often get the opportunity to ask questions during the press briefing.
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View on XThe first news organizations that were represented on Tuesday sitting the new media seats included Breitbart as well as Axios. The Post Millennial, the Daily Wire, and other new media organizations were also present for the briefing.
During the Biden administration, the White House eliminated 440 hard passes for reporters to enter the briefing room. At the time, legacy media outlets were mostly silent on the matter, unlike when then-CNN's Jim Acosta lost his pass in 2018.
When asked by one of the legacy media reporters in the press briefing if Leavitt would be telling “the truth” to the American people, the White House press secretary vowed to tell the truth and represent President Trump but added, “We ask that all of you in this room hold yourselves to that same standard. We know for a fact that there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that.”
“We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House, Leavitt added.
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