type: timeline_event
On April 15, 2025, days after a federal court ordered the White House to restore Associated Press access, the Trump administration restructured the presidential press pool and eliminated the permanent wire-service position. This unprecedented move wrested control of press pool composition from the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), allowing the administration to hand-pick which journalists cover the president. WHCA and press freedom groups condemned this as an attack on independent journalism.