The White House Correspondents Association issued a sharply worded statement Monday condemning what it called an “unprecedented exclusion” of wire service journalists from Air Force One as President Donald Trump travels to the Middle East.
“For the first time since the White House press corps started traveling with American presidents abroad, no wire service reporter is aboard Air Force One today,” the organization said. “As the president travels across the ocean for high-stakes meetings in the Middle East, the White House has decided not to include any wire reporter on the presidential aircraft.”
The exclusion, according to the group, undermines decades of presidential coverage, and is “a disservice to Americans who need news about their president.” The traveling press pool includes wire reporters from outlets like The Associated Press, Bloomberg, and Reuters, the association added.
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“Their reports are distributed quickly to thousands of news outlets and millions of readers throughout the world every day, so all have equal access to coverage of the presidency,” the statement said. “This change is a disservice to every American who deserves to know what their highest elected leader is up to, as quickly as possible.”
The organization is calling for the wire service reporters to be restored to the presidential press pool – “not for us but for the millions of Americans who depend on their reporting every day.”
WHCA Statement on the Unprecedented Exclusion of Wires on International Trip. pic.twitter.com/q3EfZr8evf
— WHCA (@whca) May 12, 2025
