Several days ago, the White House announced a policy change regarding West Wing access for reporters.
Needless to say, the announcement was met with outrage from the media.
After the announcement was made that journalists would no longer have the same access to the communications team in the West Wing as in the past, the administration revealed why that is now the case.
The new rules will block journalists from having direct access to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s office as well as other top officials in the communications department.
They can still talk to her and other administration officials in that area of the West Wing, but they can only do so by appointment.
The National Security Council broke the news early Friday, stating, “In order to protect such material, and maintain coordination between National Security Council Staff and White House Communications Staff, members of the press are no longer permitted to access Room 140 without prior approval in the form of an appointment with an authorized White House Staff Member.”
This comes on the heels of the Pentagon booting any journalist who did not want to sign off on a commitment not to publish any reports that had not been approved by the War Department.
When the Pentagon announced that it had changed its access rules, we saw dozens of reporters walk out rather than adhere to the new stipulations.
Nancy Youssef, a reporter for The Atlantic, stated, “It’s sad, but I’m also really proud of the press corps that we stuck together.”
When Trump was asked if he supported the policy, he responded, “I think he finds the press to be very disruptive in terms of world peace. The press is very dishonest.”
Jack Keane, a retired U.S. Army general and Fox News analyst, disagreed with the policy, stating, “What they’re really doing, they want to spoon-feed information to the journalist, and that would be their story. That’s not journalism.”
Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications boss, claimed that one of the reasons why the changes were taking place was that the media had been eavesdropping on conversations, possibly explaining some of the leaks in the media.
He posted to X, “Some reporters have wandered into restricted areas (our offices are feet away from the Oval Office). Some reporters have been caught eavesdropping on private, closed-door meetings.”
Cheung continued, “Cabinet Secretaries routinely come into our office for private meetings, only to be ambushed by reporters waiting outside our doors.”
Other staffers stated that they have caught reporters literally sticking their ears up against doors to try to catch conversations, which is completely over the top. If these claims are true, the media brought it on itself. Just act like adults… that is all you needed to do to keep your access.
