Peter Baker, a leading New York Times reporter, has blown up President Trump's White House's decision to take control of the press pool that covers the president and ban Associated Press from spaces in the Key White House.
He served as a correspondent in Moscow during the early days of the “Moscow” [Vladimir] Putin's rule, this reminds us that the Kremlin took over its press pool and made it accessible only to compliant journalists.” I wrote it on a Tuesday afternoon “The message is clear. Given that the White House is already pushing one news organization out of the pool, it's not advisable coverage, so others can ban the rest of us. If everyone else knows, if the president doesn't like our questions or stories.”
Baker responded to an announcement from the White House early Tuesday, with the Westwing Press Shop recognizing control of the pool, a small group of reporters traveling and reporting alongside the president's daily activities. I was doing it.
Previously, the presspool was decided by the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), but it was usually made up of reporters from major legacy media companies and wire services.
The WHCA in a statement Tuesday afternoon denounced the decision, saying it was “tears at the independence of the US freedom press.”
One of the wire services, Associated Press, was recently banned from major White House spaces after refusing to change the style of the “Gulf of America”; This is the move the outlet sued the Trump administration.
“The White House pool is beyond time that reflects American media habits in 2025,” White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt said in a briefing with reporters Tuesday, adding that West Wing said he will work to open a new pool. An alternative media outlet that she called “fit” for the occasion.
Baker, one of the top reporters for the Times in Washington, DC, warned the Trump administration for a move he said was unprecedented.
“All presidents of both parties, going back generations, have joined the principle that the president has not chosen a press squad that is allowed to ask him questions in the room,” he wrote. “Trump just declared he would do that.”
