Donald Trump disbands press corps and surrounds himself with MAGA reporters

After 111 years of independent appointments, Donald Trump is now restructuring the White House journalist pool according to his own specifications. Until now, it was the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA), a body elected by journalists, that appointed the thirteen members of the pool who have direct access to the president - for example on board Air Force One or in the Oval Office. From now on, the White House itself will make the decision about who is allowed here, announced Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The WHCA will no longer have a "monopoly" on the composition of the pool, said Leavitt; instead, the White House will decide "day by day" which journalists are allowed in. Although many reporters from the press, radio and television will continue to be allowed in, access will also be granted to representatives of media that were not previously included. As "Politico" reports, the agencies AP, Reuters and Bloomberg's news service will no longer have permanent places in the pool, and "non-traditional media" will be given the opportunity instead.

Eugene Daniels, the president of the WHCA, sharply criticizes the measure: "This means that the government selects the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, political leaders should not be able to select their own press corps." The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press reminds that "the White House press pool serves the public, not the president."

Trump's determination to surround himself with friendly reporters was already evident with the appointment of former Fox News contributor Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense and the appointment of ultra-right podcaster Dan Bongino as Deputy Director of the FBI - two opinion makers of the MAGA universe.

Reporters from "The War Room," the podcast of Trump confidant Steve Bannon, are now sitting in White House press conferences; from "The Gateway Pundit," which has made a name for itself with conspiracy theories; and from "Lindell TV," which is owned by pillow manufacturer and Trump associate Mike Lindell. The AP news agency was recently excluded because it refused to call the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America," as Trump had requested. Under Hegseth's aegis, the Pentagon has replaced CNN, the Washington Post, and the New York Times with right-wing media in its press pool.

The Trump administration's message to the press is clear, says Peter Baker, chief White House correspondent of the New York Times: "Anyone who doesn't toe the line will be excluded."