"He who controls the message, controls the masses"

Or in Trump's case... He who controls the press room, controls the masses.

The White House is now deciding who can cover the president, reversing decades of precedent

CNN

By Hadas Gold

February 25, 2025

The White House is stripping the White House Correspondents’ Association of its role in managing the White House Press Pool, taking control of deciding who will be a part of the small rotating group of journalists and photographers who accompany the president.

The press pool includes rotating representatives from television, print, radio, wire services and still photography outlets that travel with the president on Air Force One and in other small settings like the Oval Office or Roosevelt Room. They communicate information back to their counterparts at other outlets through what’s known as pool reports disseminated by email.

Since the 1950s, the independent WHCA, made up of representatives from hundreds of different outelts, has managed who is part of the rotation (in coordination with the White House). That now will change, Leavitt said.

But when they start asking hard questions they now get shown the door, so now the White House coverage is limited to right-wing pundits that tow Trump's line.

White House takes control of press pool that covers Trump

BBC News

By Bernd Debusmann Jr

February 26, 2025

The White House plans to determine which news outlets have access to President Donald Trump, taking control from an association of journalists after more than a century.

The changes, announced by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday, mean the White House will determine which outlets participate in the "pool" that covers presidential events and shares material with other media outlets.

The rotation of pool reporters was previously determined by the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), which said the decision "tears at the independence of a free press".

The surprise announcement comes as the Associated Press fights to restore its access to presidential events after it was blocked.

"The White House press team in this administration will determine who gets to enjoy the very privileged and limited access in spaces such as Air Force One and the Oval Office," Leavitt said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

Gee... where else have we seen the government trying to control the news media? Hmm... Let me think.

Oh... Oh... I know when they controlled the news media!

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum writes,

Nazi Propaganda and Censorship

The Nazis used propaganda to win the support of millions of Germans. Censorship helped to suppress ideas that the Nazis saw as threatening. 

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the German constitution guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Through decrees and laws, the Nazis abolished these civil rights and destroyed German democracy. Starting in 1934, it was illegal to criticize the Nazi government. Even telling a joke about Hitler was considered treachery. People in Nazi Germany could not say or write whatever they wanted. 

Examples of censorship under the Nazis included:

Closing down or taking over anti-Nazi newspapers; 

• Controlling what news appeared in newspapers, on the radio, and in newsreels;
• Banning and burning books that the Nazis categorized as un-German;
• Controlling what soldiers wrote home during World War II.

I don't know about you but it sure looks like Trump is following the Nazi playbook.

CNN goes on to write that,

“For decades, a group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced at Tuesday’s press briefing.

Leavitt added, “Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team.”

It sure does look like Trump is trying to gut the First Amendment!