White House Press Pool is Whittled to Less than Half of Normal for Flag Day
In-Town Press Pool goes from 5 members to 2 on Saturday, returns to normal on Sunday
By Denise Rivette
“Since its founding in 1914, the WHCA has sought to ensure that the reporters, photographers, producers and technicians who actually do the work – 365 days of every year – decide amongst themselves how these rotations are operated, so as to ensure consistent professional standards and fairness in access on behalf of all readers, viewers and listeners.”
– Eugene Daniels, White House Correspondents’ Association president
On February 25, 2025, President Donald Trump took control of who would be in the White House press pool each day. A press pool is a system wherein a group of news organizations rotates their coverage of events that have limited press access, such as White House press briefings, and share their coverage with the other organizations. Previously, White House Correspondents’ Association members would decide amongst themselves who would be in the pool on a given day. Eugene Daniels, White House Correspondents’ Association president, wrote at the time, “This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. 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.”
The number of press outlets covering today’s events at the White House will be different from previous days since President Trump took office. While the number of photographers and their outlets remain the same as every day, the number of reporting outlets in the In-Town Pool has been reduced by more than half for the day. The In-Town Pool returns to full force on Sunday.
Today’s In-Town Pool reporters will consist only of FOX for television coverage and Alarabiya, a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel, for print coverage. The number of outlets allowed to cover the White House during today’s parade rebounds to above normal levels with a secondary television outlet and third print outlet added.
The parade will begin today at 4:30 p.m., Mountain Time (6:30 Eastern Time).
June 14, 2025 Schedule
Wikipedia Descriptions of News Outlets Covering Today’s Events
Al Arabiya is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel.
Axios (styled ΛXIOS in the logo) is an American news website based in Arlington, Virginia.
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S.
Military Times is a division of Sightline Media Group, formerly Gannett Government Media and Army Times Publishing Company, which is a United States company that publishes newspapers, magazines, websites, and other publications about the U.S. and other militaries.
RAV - Real America's Voice is a right-wing to far-right streaming, cable and satellite television channel.
UnHerd is a British news and opinion website founded in July 2017 which describes itself as a platform for slow journalism.
USA Today (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper1 and news broadcasting company.
A middle-market newspaper caters to a readership base inclined to be informed on entertainment trends as well as coverage of major news events. Such newspapers are the middle segment of a continuum of journalistic seriousness: upper-market or "quality" newspapers generally cover hard news, and down-market newspapers favour sensationalist stories.
The White House Press Pool is currently a joke, with nary a real journalist among them.