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“Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team. Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not, but we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility,” Leavitt declared.
This move is seen as a direct response to the overwhelmingly left-wing bias in mainstream media. Trump’s team argues that conservative and alternative voices have been silenced for too long by the WHCA, which has largely been dominated by establishment networks and publications.
Leavitt elaborated further, assuring that major television networks would still have access but that the press pool would be expanded to include fresh perspectives.
“Just like we added a new media seat in this briefing room, legacy media outlets who have been here for years will still participate in the pool, but new voices are going to be welcomed in as well. As part of these changes, we will continue the rotation amongst the five major television networks to ensure the president’s remarks are heard far and wide around this world,” Leavitt stated.
While this might sound like a long-overdue course correction to counteract liberal media dominance, Kelly has voiced serious reservations about the implications of such a move.
On The Megyn Kelly Show, she told guest Buck Sexton of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show that she couldn’t support this change.
She pointed out that one of the key roles of the White House press pool is to ensure transparency—even when it comes to critical moments in history. She reminded viewers that the only reason there was footage of the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan was because the press pool was there to capture it.
Additionally, Kelly questioned whether some of the newer media outlets being invited could afford the hefty costs associated with traveling to cover the President.
Beyond financial concerns, Kelly worried about the precedent this set. The press, she argued, must remain independent, as guaranteed by the Constitution.
“Well let me ask you this, Buck. The other thing about this that makes me somewhat uncomfortable. And I’m all for pushing back on a left-wing bias, I don’t have to prove that to anybody. But I do think the independence of the press is important,” Kelly remarked.
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While acknowledging the media’s hostility toward Trump, she warned against allowing any White House to decide who gets access to the President.
“I realize the press has lost its mind, but it’s written right into the Bill of Rights that yeah, a free press is one of our most fundamental values, and I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the White House saying, ‘This is who will cover me. This is who I will allow to cover me at all.’ It’s one thing to say to the AP, ‘F you, you don’t-, you’ve lost your right to be in these intimate spaces,’” she continued.
Kelly predicted that Democrats could seize on this precedent to further tighten media access in the future.
“But there is a difference in saying, ‘We will decide, not you members of the press who gets to come into every space and ask questions of the president.’ I mean, we could be in a Democratic administration next, where they’re like ‘Nobody other than MSNBC and, you know, the AP can have access and ask questions,” Kelly concluded.
While Kelly warns of a slippery slope, conservatives argue that this scenario already played out under Joe Biden’s administration.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy was routinely snubbed at Biden’s choreographed press conferences, where reporters had to submit questions in advance for pre-approved answers. Karine Jean-Pierre, Biden’s press secretary, even ignored the New York Post for an entire month during White House briefings.
Megyn Kelly’s nightmare scenario isn’t hypothetical—it’s already happened. And Karoline Leavitt’s policy isn’t about silencing the press—it’s about leveling the playing field for voices that have been sidelined for years.
