President Donald Trump’s administration dealt a devastating blow to the establishment media outlets following the latest announcement from the White House. 

Trump’s difficult relationship with the establishment media is once again threatening to derail his agenda. The leftist mainstream media has been fiercely critical of all his moves since returning to the White House. 

However, the Trump administration is fighting back and has made several policies to further reduce the influence of the establishment media in the White House. 

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that her team will now decide which reporters are included in the press “pool”—the select group allowed into restricted areas like the Oval Office and Air Force One.  

“’As you all know for decades, a group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents’ Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces,” Leavitt said on Tuesday. “Not anymore. I am proud to announce that we are going to give the power back to the people who read your papers, who watch your television shows and who listen to your radio stations. Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team,” she added.

Before Leavitt’s Tuesday announcement,  the White House Correspondents’ Association  (WHCA), which is made up of an independent group of journalists from various news outlets, managed pool assignments to prevent the administration from controlling access. The  WHCA, led by President Eugene Daniels of Politico, has a nine-member board made up of representatives from major media outlets.

Leavitt revealed that reporters from the establishment media would still be allowed to join the pool. She, however, noted that well-deserving outlets who have previously been denied access would be given the opportunity to join the pool. 

“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. We will add additional streaming services, which reach different audiences than traditional cable and broadcast,” she said.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has made some steps to make the White House press briefing more accessible to new and independent media outlets. Leavitt announced in January that a new spot, called the “new media seat,” will be created in the White House press briefing. 

Leavitt stated that the seat will be shared among a diverse range of media outlets, including Axios, a Beltway news site, and Breitbart News. The announcement comes as welcome news for independent journalists and podcasters who will now have a chance to attend press briefings at the White House.