Press on flight to Middle East: Trump leaves agencies without any space on Air Force One

Journalists usually accompany heads of state and government on flights abroad. News agencies are almost always present. However, US President Trump is reshuffling the deck regarding access.

The White House Independent Reporters Association has criticized restrictions on press coverage during US President Donald Trump's first major foreign trip. For the first time since the White House press corps traveled abroad with the American president, no news agency correspondent was on board Air Force One, the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) criticized in a statement. "The WHCA is concerned about this new restriction on those who can cover the White House and the continued retaliation for independent editorial decisions."

The Reporters Association pointed out that agencies like the Associated Press (AP), Reuters, and Bloomberg supply thousands of news outlets and thus reach millions of readers around the world. Not allowing their text reporters on the government plane was an unprecedented step and a detriment to all Americans who deserve to know what their president is doing.

In the United States, the president is accompanied at public appearances by a so-called correspondent pool—a select group of reporters who share their information with their colleagues. During foreign trips, a small group of journalists usually accompanies the president's aircraft. This pool solution provides important support for all journalists covering the president. In keeping with long-standing tradition, the pool typically includes television, radio, print media, news portals, and agencies.

Rotating principle - with Leavitt as bouncer

In mid-April, the White House restricted news agencies' access to this important circle. Previously, the US agency AP had been barred from events in the Oval Office of the White House – even after a court order to the contrary. The reason for this was the AP's refusal to use Trump's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America" ​​in its reporting.

Representatives of news agencies—typically AP, Reuters, and Bloomberg—no longer have guaranteed spots in the pool. Instead, these spots will be allocated on a rotating basis to print or agency journalists. Trump's spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt also reserves the final decision on the composition of the pool. Before Trump took office, this was the responsibility of the WHCA.

At the same time, the new administration is granting privileged access to the White House to numerous right-wing media outlets, influencers, bloggers, and podcasters, which it calls "new media." It's striking that their representatives often ask Trump sympathetic questions at press conferences or serve as a trigger for his own remarks, without pursuing critical questions.