KUALA LUMPUR – Three of the world’s largest news agencies – Bloomberg News, The Associated Press (AP), and Reuters – have criticised the White House for restricting their access to President Donald Trump’s events.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced that it would decide which media outlets could cover events in restricted spaces like the Oval Office – overturning a system that had been managed for decades by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA).
Responding to the announcement, the news organisations which are the three permanent wires in the White House pool, on Wednesday, asserted that the new policy threatens the principle of press freedom and the public’s right to reliable information – which comes after the White House barred journalists from Reuters, AP, and other outlets from covering Trump’s first cabinet meeting under new media access rules.
“We believe (limiting several) wire services with access to the president threatens that principle. It also harms the spread of reliable information to people, communities, businesses and global financial markets that heavily depend on our reporting.”
The statement, signed by AP executive editor Julie Pace, Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni, and Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait, said that the three wire services “have long worked to ensure that accurate, fair and timely information about the presidency is communicated to a broad audience of all political persuasions, both in the United States and globally.”
“Much of the White House coverage people see in their local news outlets, wherever they are in the world, comes from the wires.
“It is essential in a democracy for the public to have access to news about their government from an independent, free press,” the joint statement asserted, challenging the policy.
According to Reuters, an AP photographer and reporters from Reuters, HuffPost, and German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel were denied entry. Meanwhile, Bloomberg News was allowed access, along with TV crews from ABC and Newsmax, as well as reporters from Axios, The Blaze, and NPR.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the new policy would allow more media outlets to participate. Reuters reported that the administration’s changes would still grant access to the five major television networks while adding more streaming services and radio hosts.
The statement warned that restricting the number of wire services in the press pool “harms the spread of reliable information to people, communities, businesses, and global financial markets.”
The WHCA, which has coordinated the presidential press pool for decades, also criticised the decision, arguing that it “tears at the independence of a free press.”
The BBC reported that the WHCA was not informed of the decision in advance.
One of the most controversial aspects of the new policy is the barring of AP from the press pool, reportedly due to its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” – a name introduced by Trump through an executive order.
AP has challenged the restriction in court, arguing that it violates First Amendment rights. A US judge declined AP’s request for an immediate restoration of access but scheduled a hearing for March 20. – February 27, 2025