While the administration claims the new rule is for security, it seems to be part of a broader strategy to limit media access.
The Trump administration announced Friday that journalists covering the White House will lose unrestricted access to an office in the West Wing used by communications personnel, marking the newest restriction on the press corps.
A memo released Friday by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Communications Director Steven Cheung—whose offices are in the restricted zone—states that reporters must now schedule an appointment to speak with White House officials in that area.
The White House cited “recent structural changes” as the reason, noting that communications staff are now tasked with issues related to the National Security Council (NSC). The memo explained: “In this capacity, members of the White House Communications Staff are routinely engaging with sensitive material.”
The change also reflects other limitations imposed on journalists, such as banning certain news outlets from closed briefings and events, and introducing new rules at the Pentagon. These rules led most reporters assigned there to relinquish their media credentials and report on the military remotely.
President Donald Trump has previously suggested relocating the press corps entirely off the White House campus.
Earlier this month, Trump stated: “We have an option here. We could move them very easily across the street.”
The memo assures that journalists will keep their standard access to a separate office next to the briefing room, which houses junior communications staff.
Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), released a statement arguing that the restrictions “hinder the press corps’ ability to question officials, ensure transparency, and hold the government accountable, to the detriment of the American public.”
Communications Director Cheung defended the limitations on social media, asserting that White House reporters had covertly recorded video and audio of the West Wing office, accessed off-limits rooms, and listened in on private meetings.
Earlier in the year, the White House attempted to bar the Associated Press (AP) from covering White House events after the agency refused to adopt the name “Gulf of America” for the Gulf of Mexico, as ordered by President Trump. While a federal judge ruled that the White House could not legally block the AP, the outlet's access remains constrained as the administration pursues an appeal.
Separately, Trump has initiated lawsuits against multiple media organizations he perceived as covering him and his Republican allies negatively.
In a historical parallel, President Bill Clinton had also restricted reporter access to that same section of the West Wing (known as upper press) shortly after taking office in 1993. However, succeeding administrations permitted journalists to move freely in the area to interact with communications staff.
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Source:- POLITICO
