Jeff Mason, head of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said he and the group’s other leaders were “pleased” with talks they had Thursday with President-elect Trump’s communications team.
Mason, a reporter for Reuters, said the talk was mostly “informational” but some concerns over press access to the incoming Trump administration were addressed.
“They made some reassurances to us that we are pleased about,” Mason said. “One is that they will respect the formation and the use of the protective pool in its current form going forward. That includes covering the president both at the White House, when he leaves the White House and when he flies on Air Force One.”
The WHCA currently oversees much of how the White House daily press briefings are conducted and it organizes the rotating pool of journalists who follow the president each day.
Members of the Trump team, including Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer, who will serve as White House press secretary, have indicated big changes will likely come to how the new administration will handle media relations.
Trump was often hostile toward the press during his campaign, not allowing reporters to travel aboard his private airplane, a practice he has kept up since winning the election.
