The Trump administration on Friday took another step to micromanage the news gathering activities of journalists who work from the White House, the latest move in a gradual crackdown that has broken with decades of precedent.
For generations, White House reporters have been allowed to roam freely from the press briefing room into a warren of offices in the West Wing, known as “Upper Press,” that houses the press secretary and other senior press aides. Journalists could ask impromptu questions of administration officials and, during breaking news, quickly obtain information for their audiences.
That access abruptly ended on Friday, according to a White House memorandum that prohibited journalists from accessing Upper Press without a prior appointment. The administration cited security concerns over “sensitive material” related to the National Security Council that is now handled by the press office staff.
“This policy will ensure adherence to best practices pertaining to access to sensitive material,” the memo said. The memo also asserted that Upper Press was “adjacent to the Oval Office”; in fact, it is a few rooms away.
Under the new policy, journalists can still enter a smaller area, directly adjacent to the briefing room and known as “Lower Press,” that is occupied by more junior press aides.
The White House Correspondents’ Association said on Friday that it “unequivocally opposes any effort to limit journalists from areas within the communications operations of the White House that have long been open for news gathering.”
“The new restrictions hinder the press corps’ ability to question officials, ensure transparency, and hold the government accountable, to the detriment of the American public,” the association’s president, Weijia Jiang of CBS News, said in a statement.
Steven Cheung, President Trump’s communications director, said in a social media post later on Friday that “some reporters have been caught secretly recording video and audio of our offices, along with pictures of sensitive info, without permission.”
Mr. Trump has sued news organizations and threatened to revoke broadcast licenses as he pursues a broader assault on a news media that he claims is biased. In October, scores of journalists who cover the Pentagon gave up their press passes rather than agree to proposed new rules that severely limited their ability to request information from Defense Department officials.
At the White House, reporters have grappled with subtler, but still consequential changes.
Earlier this year, President Trump’s aides began handpicking which media outlets could participate in the daily rotating press pool that relays the president’s activities to the public. The administration also removed a regular slot in the presidential press pool that had been reserved for wire service news agencies like The Associated Press.
The change announced on Friday ends a journalistic tradition that had persisted through multiple presidencies of both parties. The passageway in Upper Press was frequently lined with reporters, often from smaller news outlets with less access to senior officials, as they waited their turn to ask a question.
The ease of direct access to the press secretary has sometimes been cited as a symbol of a transparent and accountable government. It has also been restricted, temporarily, at least once before.
In 1993, the Clinton administration announced a similar policy barring reporters from Upper Press. The communications director at the time, George Stephanopoulos, said that reporters’ presence was a distraction, arguing that “you have to be careful about equating accessibility with sitting in a working office.” The move angered reporters, and Clinton aides eventually reversed the ban.
In 2017, shortly before Mr. Trump’s first inauguration, reporters were alarmed by rumors that the incoming administration might eject them entirely from the West Wing — where journalists from broadcast, radio and print outlets have worked for decades. That plan did not come to fruition, although Mr. Trump, in his first term, sharply curtailed the daily press briefing and briefly revoked the credentials of the CNN reporter Jim Acosta, among other actions.
This year, Mr. Trump’s aides have defended some of the new White House press policies by saying they want to provide more opportunities to nontraditional media outlets, including podcasts, streaming services and upstart digital sites. Several aides have also castigated mainstream news organizations, especially those that aggressively report on the president, as untrustworthy and out-of-touch.
White House aides often tout Mr. Trump as “the most transparent and accessible president in American history,” citing his frequent informal question-and-answer sessions with reporters.
Michael M. Grynbaum writes about the intersection of media, politics and culture. He has been a media correspondent at The Times since 2016.
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