White House Set to Shake Up Briefing Room, Welcomes More MAGA Media

The White House is reportedly preparing to roll out a revamped seating chart for the press briefing room, potentially removing some major news organizations from their usual front-row positions in favor of more MAGA-aligned media figures.

According to Axios, the Biden-to-Trump administration handoff includes plans for the White House—rather than the traditional journalist-run White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA)—to take direct control over where reporters sit. This marks a break from decades of precedent.

A senior White House official, speaking anonymously to Axios, said the administration is pushing for a “fundamental restructuring of the briefing room, based on metrics more reflective of how media is consumed today.”

“The goal isn’t merely favorable coverage,” the official told Axios. “It’s truly an honest look at consumption [of the outlets’ coverage]. Influencers are important, but it’s tough because they aren’t [equipped to provide] consistent coverage. So the ability to cover the White House is part of the metrics.”

While legacy outlets won’t be excluded, their dominant presence could be scaled back. “Major legacy outlets will still be included. But expect some to have diminished visibility compared with their customary spots in the first few rows. We want to balance disruption with responsibility,” the official said.

This shift is likely to fuel existing tensions with journalists who have already expressed frustration over the administration’s recent decision to oversee press pool assignments—an exclusive group of reporters allowed into limited-capacity events with the president. Critics claim the new policies are designed to sideline detractors while elevating loyal voices.

“This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States,” WHCA president Eugene Daniels said, condemning the decision to manage the pool. “It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.”

Daniels did not cite any specific examples of how the administration’s actions have harmed press independence. It’s also worth noting that no news outlet has been explicitly banned from covering the president.

Politico recently highlighted how this shift mirrors trends from Trump’s first term—though this time, the divide is more visible. As the outlet reports, “The administration’s embrace of alternative conservative outlets continues a pattern from Trump’s first term, but the divide between the MAGA-friendly media and their more mainstream counterparts has become visible in the briefing room in a way it wasn’t before.” With no permanent seats assigned, roughly a dozen new conservative journalists have staked out a section known informally as the “conservative corner.” This is located along the wall near a designated “new media seat” maintained by press secretary Karoline Leavitt for a rotating group of influencers and alternative outlets.

Politico painted a vivid picture of the group: “The occupants of the conservative corner cut a sharp contrast to their seated colleagues: Many of the reporters in the gaggle are younger than the average White House correspondent, and a handful of them tote around hand-held cameras or other DIY live-streaming equipment. Their fashion choices — flashy ties and steep high heels — stand out in the sea of grey suits and sensible flats. They chatter like old friends (which many of them are from prior reporting gigs) or even romantic partners (which at least two of them are).”

Mary Margaret Olohan, who covers the White House for The Daily Wire, remarked, “It’s a little bit of a who’s who of my friends in the conservative ecosystem that have suddenly popped up in the White House.”

Natalie Winters, reporting from Steve Bannon’s “War Room,” added her own take: “You know when you’re at a party and you see someone who you don’t technically know, but you know them like through a friend from social media, and it’s that awkward question of, like, ‘Do I say hi or do I not?’ It’s a room full of that, except you know the people because you bash them on TV.”