Relations between the Trump administration and the White House press corps deteriorated further on Monday, as journalists pushed back on new plans to change their working arrangements in the West Wing.
The latest skirmish came as the administration said that it would consider taking control of the reporters’ seating chart in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, which for decades has been determined by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a group of nearly 900 journalists who report on the president and his administration.
Where a reporter sits for the televised briefings is a symbolic matter — it points to the perceived importance of a specific news outlet — and a practical one, too. Journalists in the front rows typically get more of their questions addressed by the press secretary during briefings.
In a note to members, the board of the correspondents’ association accused Trump officials of seeking “to exert pressure on journalists over coverage they disagree with.”
“The White House should abandon this wrongheaded effort and show the American people they’re not afraid to explain their policies and field questions from an independent media free from government control,” the board wrote.
A change to the seating chart would amount to another encroachment by President Trump’s aides into the day-to-day procedures of the journalists who cover them. White House officials now pick and choose certain news outlets to participate in the presidential press pool, and journalists from The Associated Press have been barred from attending certain events.