Trump’s interactions with the press pool are ‘unprecedented’. History explains why.
Since reentering the White House in January 2025, President Donald Trump, in countless ways, has broken from precedents set by his predecessors, including in his interactions with the reporters who cover and travel with him on a daily basis.
In February, the Trump administration announced its plans to seize control of the White House press pool and decide which news organizations (and reporters) get the closest access to the president — dubbed an “unprecedented step” by The Washington Post. For more than a century, the White House press corps has largely been managed by the White House Correspondents’ Association, an independent, nonprofit organization established during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.
WHCA president Eugene Daniels said in a statement that the White House’s decision “tears at the independence of a free press in the United States.” The Trump administration has defended its actions — which range from limiting The Associated Press’ access to presidential events in February to taking charge of the reporter seating chart in the White House press briefing room.
I spoke with historians about why the Trump administration’s actions are unprecedented by today’s standards, in the context of the history of the White House press corps and the rise of the WHCA.
Related Knowledge Center: The White House vs. the press
Whether it’s the Des Moines Register’s publication of an unfavorable election poll, a routine edit of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, or the Associated Press’s decision in its authoritative stylebook to continue to use “Gulf of Mexico,” Donald Trump and the White House have used executive authority and legal reprisals in an effort to punish and suppress press coverage that runs contrary to the administration’s preferred narratives.
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