White House Kicks Out HuffPost Reporter From Press Pool

Donald Trump’s White House kicked a HuffPost reporter out of the pool of journalists set to follow the president on Wednesday, breaking with decades of precedent, and insisting they have the ability to pick and choose which reporters cover the president.

The White House also kicked the Reuters wire service out of its spot in the pool, escalating a fight which began after the White House insisted The Associated Press comply with Trump’s decision to arbitrarily rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

The moves fit in with the increasingly authoritarian nature of Trump’s second term, which has seen him deploy the federal government to go after his critics and political enemies, and work to expand the powers of the executive branch to unprecedented levels. 

“HuffPost condemns this egregious violation of the First Amendment. Americans deserve fair and honest reporting on their president,” HuffPost editor-in-chief Whitney Snyder said. “The White House must stop this cowardly behaviour and restore HuffPost’s place in the press pool immediately.”

HuffPost White House reporter S.V. Date, who questioned Trump on Air Force One earlier this month, was set to fill the spot typically reserved for a print reporter in the pool, which tracks the president throughout the day and sends updates to the broader group of reporters who cover the president.

For decades, the White House Correspondents’ Association has determined the rotation of reporters who fill spots dedicated for radio, television, print and wire service reporters. 

But after 10 pm on Tuesday night, the White House informed Date there was “no room” for him in the pool. A reporter from Axios, a digital publication famous for its extreme commitment to brevity, is instead serving as the print pooler. There is also only one wire service in the pool instead of the typical three, while spots were handed to Newsmax and The Blaze, two right-wing outlets. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a failed congressional candidate, announced the White House was taking control of the pool during Tuesday’s press briefing, saying it needed to ensure access to new news outlets.

“It’s beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925,” Leavitt said, adding: “All journalists, outlets and voices deserve a seat at this highly coveted table.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which had tried to negotiate with the Trump administration following their move to ban The Associated Press, condemned the decision. (A court on Monday declined to issue a temporary restraining order restoring the AP’s access, though a federal judge urged the White House to reconsider its stance.) 

“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” WHCA President Eugene Daniels, a reporter at Politico, said after Leavitt’s announcement. “It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”

On Wednesday, Trump is set to participate in a cabinet meeting and sign executive orders at the White House.