White House Limits Newswires in Press Pool

The White House is limiting the number of newswires in the press pool as part of its takeover of the system.

Bloomberg was the only wire service in Wednesday’s pool. There is usually more than one wire service in a pool, such as The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters.

Press pools are used when there are space and security restrictions in places such as the Oval Office and on Air Force One. The pool is responsible for reporting on what is said in addition to delivering color for journalists who are not able to be on the scene.

This system allows outlets to take turns traveling with and asking questions of the president and vice president.

In addition to the wire services, the pool usually consists of photographers, TV correspondents and crews, print reporters, and a radio outlet. The White House has added a “New Media” slot. The Blaze, a conservative outlet, occupied this spot in Wednesday’s pool.

The heads of The Associated Press, Bloomberg and Reuters—Julie Pace, John Micklethwait, and Alessandra Galloni, respectively—criticized the White House excluding all but one of the wire services from the Feb. 26 pool.

Related Stories

“The three permanent wires in the White House pool, The Associated Press, Bloomberg News, and Reuters, 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,” they said in a statement.

“Much of the White House coverage people see in their local news outlets, wherever they are in the world, comes from the wires,” they continued.

Recently, the White House denied AP access to the Oval Office and Air Force One.

Trump has said this is due in part to AP refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” in accordance with his order changing its name.  The AP has defended its coverage by saying that it uses both names as part of its appeal to its international audience as only the United States has recognized the body of water as the Gulf of America.

The AP sued the Trump administration and a judge this week ruled in favor of the White House.

The White House announced during its Feb. 26 press briefing that the White House press office will be in charge of the pool as opposed to the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), which is the liaison between the White House press corps and the administration.

“It’s beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925. A select group of D.C.-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“So by deciding which outlets make up the limited press pool on a day-to-day basis, the White House will be restoring power back to the American people who President [Donald] Trump was elected to serve,” she continued.