Reports indicate that the White House is close to unveiling a new seating arrangement for the briefing room—a change that might see some major outlets lose their traditional front-row spots.
Axios noted that the administration plans to establish and enforce its own seating chart, a role that the journalist-led White House Correspondents’ Association has managed for decades.
An unnamed person described by Axios as a senior White House official told the news outlet that the Trump administration is aiming for a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”
“The goal isn’t merely favorable coverage,” the official told Axios. “It’s truly an honest look at consumption [of the outlets’ coverage]. Influencers are important, but it’s tough because they aren’t [equipped to provide] consistent coverage. So the ability to cover the White House is part of the metrics.”
“Major legacy outlets will still be included. But expect some to have diminished visibility compared with their customary spots in the first few rows. We want to balance disruption with responsibility,” the official said, per Axios.
The change is likely to provoke a strong backlash from reporters already upset by the White House now determining who comprises the press pool—the select group of journalists granted access to the president at events that can’t accommodate many. Critics argue that the Trump administration is trying to mute its detractors while promoting its supporters.
“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” WHCA president Eugene Daniels whined in response to the White House taking over the press pool assignments. “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.”
Daniels didn’t go on to list any actual instances of how the Trump White House moves limited the “independence” of the “free press,” however. Also, the White House is not barring any outlet from ‘covering the president.’
Trump on Thursday took to his Truth Social page to call on the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team to claw back billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars allegedly paid out to a Georgia Democrat’s organization and Washington, D.C.-based media outlet Politico.
“Whatever happened to the $8,000,000 given by our ‘government’ to Radical Left Politico magazine, or whatever you would call it. Owned by wealthy guys, this money should be taken back by DOGE, ASAP,” Trump wrote.
“Also, is Stacey Abrams going to give back the Two Billion Dollars they funneled into her “environmental fund” just prior to my assuming office. She went from $100 in donations to $2,000,000,000 in just one day? Not bad!!! Get back the money,” Trump added.
In early February, the White House announced “that federal agencies are in the process of terminating expensive contracts with Politico after Elon Musk, leader of the Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiative, called them a ‘wasteful’ use of taxpayer money,” the New York Post reported.
According to usaspending.gov, Politico was allocated about $8.4 million in taxpayer funds over the 12 months ending September 30, 2024. The website now shows the current award amount as $8.2 million.
“I can confirm that the more than eight million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer’s dime will no longer be happening,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this week during a regular briefing.
She added: “The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now. Again, this is a whole-of-government effort to ensure that we are going line by line when it comes to the federal government’s books, and this president and his team are making decisions across the board.”
