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Tags: trump | karoline leavitt | white house | press pass | new media | briefing room

WH Press Sec: Reporter Passes to Be Restored, New Media Invited to Briefings

By    |   Tuesday, 28 January 2025 03:33 PM EST

White House press briefings will look a little different under the Trump administration.

At her first press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said they would open the Brady Press Briefing Room to "independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators."

New media will get a dedicated seat in the front row, Leavitt said.

President Donald Trump appeared on numerous podcasts during his 2024 presidential campaign, visiting Joe Rogan, Theo Von, the Nelk Boys, and former WWE superstar The Undertaker.

"The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities not just the legacy media who are seated in this room," Leavitt said. "Millions of Americans — especially young people — have turned from traditional television outlets and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media and other independent outlets. It's essential to our team that we share President Trump's message everywhere and adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025."

Leavitt said the White House plans to restore the press passes to 400 journalists who saw them revoked during the Biden administration.

In August 2023, the Biden administration revoked the hard pass of hundreds of journalists, which allows journalists to access the White House campus anytime that the security booth is operational.

The Biden administration placed new requirements on hard pass holders, mandating proof of employment by a Washington-based outlet and to be credentialed by a press gallery in the House, Senate, or Supreme Court, Politico reported.

A White House spokesperson told Politico at the time the revamped hard pass criteria wasn't about revoking any individual's credential but about ensuring those who hold them are actively working the beat.

"At the time we initiated this process in early May, roughly 40% of hard pass holders had not accessed the White House complex in the prior 90 days," the spokesperson said.

The new requirement saw the number of hard pass holders drop from 1,417 to 975. Only one individual who applied under the new criteria was denied a pass, said the spokesperson to Politico, who did not identify that journalist.

Sam Barron

Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.

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Politics
White House press briefings will look a little different under the Trump administration.
trump, karoline leavitt, white house, press pass, new media, briefing room
347
2025-33-28
Tuesday, 28 January 2025 03:33 PM
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