White House: US government wants to decide on media access to the White House

The US government is breaking with a long tradition and wants to control which media outlets can report on US President Donald Trump's immediate environment . Until now, an independent journalists' association decided who belonged to the White House's so-called correspondent pool and thus had access to the Oval Office or the presidential aircraft.

According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the changes are intended to rotate traditional news organizations and also take streaming services into account. It is a modernization of the press pool that will ensure more inclusion and give the Americans who voted for Trump access to the government.

The background to this is the dispute that has been going on for weeks between the US government and the AP news agency. The agency refuses to use Trump's new name "Gulf of America" ​​for the waters south of the US coast known internationally as the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, AP reporters no longer have access to the US President's office in the White House and the presidential aircraft known as Air Force One.

AP and the White House Correspondents Association have sued to stop the ban. A judge on Monday denied a request for a temporary restraining order to restore access .

Jon Marshall, professor of media history at Northwestern University, described the US government's actions as a "dangerous step for democracy" . It means "that the president can choose who reports on the executive branch".