Dominating the Narrative

During Donald Trump’s first term as president, his administration experimented with various ways to handle an openly hostile press corps. He ignored certain outlets, pushed prominent journalists to the back of the room, even canceled daily press briefings. But none of it worked. The media still shaped much of the coverage.

The Biden administration, however, took a different approach: press access was quietly restricted using a vague RSVP system, justified under Covid protocols. This allowed the White House to hand-pick which outlets had access to POTUS. When questioned on this, Biden officials cited CDC guidelines — yet the CDC itself denied involvement. If reporters pushed further, the White House simply deflected responsibility back to the CDC — a loop no journalist wanted to challenge too aggressively, for fear of being blacklisted.

The result? A press corps that self-censored out of fear of losing access.

Now back in power, Trump has completely reversed this strategy. Instead of restricting access, he’s expanding it dramatically. Rather than letting a small group of “legacy” media outlets dominate the room, Trump is welcoming in podcasters, social media influencers, YouTubers, Substack writers, and nontraditional media. (The White House press office received 7,400 requests for credentials in the first 24 hours after these new rules were announced.)