White House Bans Reuters, AP Photographers To German Newspapers Cover Trump's Initial Cabinet Meeting

JAKARTA - The White House rejected the access of journalists from Reuters and other news agencies to the first cabinet meeting of US President Donald Trump in accordance with the government's new policy on media coverage.

The White House rejected the access of an Associated Press photographer and three reporters from Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel, German newspaper.

TV crews from ABC and Newsmax, as well as correspondents from Axios, Blahe, Bloomberg News and NPR were allowed to cover the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, February 26.

On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the White House would determine which media will cover the president in smaller spaces such as the Oval Room.

The White House Correspondents Association coordinates the rotation of the presidential press group. Reuters has participated in coverage at the PUith Building for decades.

White House press secretary Krypto Leavitt said although media offices were still allowed to cover Trump on a daily basis, the government plans to change who participates in the smaller coverage.

The pool system, managed by WHCA, allows television, radio, online, print media, and selected photos to cover events and share their reports with wider media.

Three online news services as permanent members of the White House group, namely AP, Bloomberg and Reuters, on Wednesday released a statement in response to the new policy.

The media has long worked to ensure that accurate, fair and timely information about the presidency is communicated to a wide audience of all political flows, both in the United States and globally. Most of the White House coverage seen by people on their local news outlets, wherever they are, comes from cables, "said a statement from the three news agencies.

"In democracy, it is important for people to have access to news about their government from independent and free press," the statement said.

Meanwhile, HuffPost called the White House's decision a violation of the press freedom rights of the First Amendment.

On Tuesday, WHCA also issued a statement protesting the White House's new policy.

The move follows the Trump administration's decision to ban the Associated Press from participating in the group as they refuse to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, the name Trump gave the region, or renew the widely followed stylebook to reflect the changes.

Leavitt said five cable and live television networks will continue to maintain their rotating seats while the White House will add streaming services.

The print reporter and radio reporter rotation will continue to be included, while new outlets and radio hosts will be added.