Trump administration modifies rules for media access to the White House

The White House decided to cut the Gordian knot in its dispute with Associated Press (AP) over access to presidential events. This was announced Tuesday by spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt, who reported that the administration will completely change the way credentials are distributed.

At issue was the choice of media to be part of the press pool, a limited group of journalists who enjoy privileged access to the president, for example to the Oval Office or Air Force One. Until now, their staffing was the decision of an independent organization of reporters, the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA). Henceforth, it will be at the government's discretion.

The information comes a day after a federal judge rejected AP's emergency request to have its access to the pool, which the Administration withdrew for refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

In his ruling, Judge McFadden admitted that it was problematic that the White House had decided to short-circuit the power it had ceded to the WHCA to withdraw credentials from a single media outlet. However, he acknowledged that the government had the power to decide the matter and that it could withdraw permission from the reporters' association if it wished.

Her assessment did not fall on deaf ears, as Leavitt demonstrated hours later. The spokeswoman promised that the new composition would be made up of both mainstream media, such as the five major television networks, and new media.

The goal, she said, was to reflect "the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925," as well as to take power away from a "monopoly" of DC journalists. Access to the pool, she sentenced, is a "privilege, it is not a legal right for all."

WHCA: "Leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps"

"This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States," wrote WHCA president Eugene Daniels. "In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps."

Daniels assured that the organization he heads has been expanding "for generations" the number of its members and their pool rotations, "to facilitate the inclusion of new and emerging outlets."

He also assured that the Trump administration had not previously informed them of the change.

Freedom of expression abroad

The rule change comes shortly after the Trump Administration announced another measure affecting the flow of information, albeit abroad: the digital services tax (DST) "overseas extortion."

In an executive order signed late last week, the president said his team will respond with measures such as tariffs on DSTs imposed against technology companies that operate in international markets but "are generally not otherwise subject to foreign jurisdiction."

In addition to describing economic harm to American companies, the government asserted that these levies and regulations imposed by other capitals may run afoul of the First Amendment. At this point it specifically targeted its European allies:

"The Administration will review whether any act, policy, or practice in the European Union or United Kingdom incentivizes US companies to develop or use products and technology in ways that undermine free speech or foster censorship."