Trump blocks press during Middle East visit

The decision to deny some journalists assigned to cover US President Donald Trump's Middle East contacts access to the presidential plane has sparked a reaction from the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA). The association deemed the exclusion of reporters from the Associated Press (AP), Bloomberg News, and Reuters from Air Force One a serious issue.

In a statement issued by the WHCA, it was emphasized that the exclusion of these three major news agencies from such an important visit is "alarming" in terms of press freedom. The statement included the following remarks:

"The reports from these agencies are rapidly delivered to thousands of media outlets and millions of readers around the world every day, ensuring that everyone has equal access to developments regarding the president. This change is a disservice to every US citizen who deserves to know immediately what their country's leader is doing."

On the other hand, statements from the White House provided some clues regarding the background of this decision. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had announced that a new practice would be implemented regarding how relations with the press would be conducted. Accordingly, the task distribution of the resident media groups covering the US president's public events will now be determined by the White House.

Following the decision, the excluded news agencies issued a joint statement. In the statement published collectively by Reuters, AP, and Bloomberg, the Trump administration's steps to restrict press access were criticized. All three agencies stated that the public's right to information should not be overshadowed by such interventions.