In response to the Trump administration sidelining the White House Correspondents Association and taking full control over which media outlets get White House access, on Wednesday WHCA denounced what it called a threat to “the independence of a free press in the United States,” and said it won’t cooperate.
But if the group’s members expected there would follow a plan, or at least a call for a coordinated response to that threat, they likely came away disappointed. The WHCA has decided to stop distributing pool reports, effectively ceding control of the process to Trump without a fight. And its message to members was, in essence, that they’re on their own.
Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced the change on Tuesday with a smug statement that said in part, “The White House press team in this administration will determine who gets to enjoy the very privileged and limited access in spaces such as Air Force One and the Oval Office.”
In a statement sent Wednesday night to members, WHCA president Eugene Daniels said in part, “This move from the White House threatens the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president.”
Daniels also said WHCA will no longer distribute pool reports because it “cannot ensure that the reports filed by government-selected poolers will be held to the same standards that we have had in place for decades.”
“WHCA stands ready to assist in pool organization, travel planning, and logistical support – and will never stop advocating on behalf of our members,” Daniels continued. “But we cannot facilitate a pool where the President, rather than the press corps and the audience they represent, decides who can and cannot cover him.”
But, while Daniels avowed that the WHCA board “will not assist any attempt by this administration or any other in taking over independent press coverage of the White House,” that appears to be the extent of push back.
“Each of your organizations will have to decide whether or not you will take part in these new, government-appointed pools,” he told members.
It’s unclear how this message was received by WHCA membership at large. But at least one member, Andrew Feinberg of The Independent, gave it an F, telling Oliver Darcy, “Speaking only for myself and not for my outlet, I am troubled by what appears to be a declaration that we are all on our own while this association orders us to not use the only way we have to communicate with the entire press corps as we navigate this unprecedented and disturbing situation.”
Darcy also reported in the latest edition of his Status newsletter that “a few” other WHCA members have privately said they agree with Feinberg.
This follows a brutal few weeks in which Trump has escalated his attacks on independent media. It started when he banned the Associated Press from the White House for refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” Perhaps emboldened by the fact that no other media outlets pulled out of White House coverage in solidarity with AP, Trump has now also banned Reuters and Huffington Post.
That’s in addition, of course, to the new, Trump-controlled White House press pool that is likely to be dominated but right wing outlets friendly to Trump. And the $20 billion lawsuit Trump filed against Paramount over the 2024 “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris, which Trump baselessly claims was fraudulently edited.
Daniels, until recently the co-author of Politico Playbook, was also just named as the host of a new weekend show on the liberal-leaning cable news network MSNBC, an announcement that came after a brutal wave of cancellations that even Rachel Maddow called out on-air. Network bosses and insiders have insisted there are no plans to change its focus on progressive politics.
