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The Trump administration’s proposal to take over the seating arrangement within the White House press briefing room has rattled the journalists who cover the president and left them mulling how exactly to push back.
The White House plans to impose its own seating chart for reporters in the briefing room, seizing control of a prerogative long managed by the journalists in the room through the White House Correspondents’ Association, Axios first reported Sunday.
The WHCA’s current system reflects the 20th century media power structure: wire services and broadcast and cable television networks occupy the front row, major newspapers and radio get the second and third rows, and a more fluid collection of news organizations sits further back. The White House proposal would upend the arrangement in a move White House officials reportedly believe will be a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”
On Sunday, key members of the WHCA, including the organization’s leadership and some White House bureau chiefs, met to discuss a range of potential responses should Trump communications officials decide to dictate where reporters in the room sit.
According to two people familiar with the discussions, among the proposals raised by members was a potential Civil Rights era-style “sit-in” protest, in which members would return to their old seats and refuse to leave them.
WHCA leadership declined to comment, noting that Sunday’s meeting had been off-the-record, and members of the WHCA who spoke to Semafor emphasized that the situation remained in flux. On Fox News on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration had tried to “broker a meeting” about the proposed seating changes and said the briefing room “does not belong to elitist journalists here in Washington.”
Asked about a potential protest by members of the WHCA, including a potential sit-in, White House communications director Steven Cheung responded: “Hahahahahahahaha…..…hahahahahahahahaha.”
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The move is part of a larger effort by the administration to take control of in-person access to the president and staff when at the White House. The White House has prohibited The Associated Press from covering in-person events over the wire service’s refusal to follow Trump’s executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Trump communications officials have also invited friendly reporters to cover events at which there is limited press access, allowing Trump to receive more positive questions and even some rhetorical backup during key moments.
The WHCA has tried to push back against White House’s changes and raise awareness about the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back press access at the White House and the Pentagon. As Semafor first noted last week, the WHCA asked members to support the AP’s press access case by wearing a 1st Amendment pin when attending events at the White House and appearing on television, a move White House officials quickly mocked on X.
In an email to members Monday morning, the WHCA board said the seating chart proposal was another sign that the White House was attempting to take power away from independent news organizations.
“If the White House pushes forward, it will become even more clear that the administration is seeking to cynically seize control of the system through which the independent press organizes itself, so that it is easier to exact punishment on outlets over their coverage,” the email said.
Still, while the WHCA has struck a defiant public tone, the organization had already made some concessions that have pleased the White House. After initially tapping comedian Amber Ruffin to perform at the WHCA’s annual dinner, the organization reversed course following complaints from White House communications officials, who criticized her comments on a Daily Beast podcast in which she described the new administration as “kind of a bunch of murderers.”