President Donald Trump fired another volley against his establishment media adversary Fox News as well as the White House Correspondents’ Association Wednesday.
Trump took to Truth Social to specifically target Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich.
“I watched Jacqui Heinrich from Fox over the weekend and I thought she was absolutely terrible. She should be working for CNN, not Fox,” Trump posted. “Not surprisingly, I later found out that she’s a fan of the White House Correspondents Association!”
Heinrich has fostered a combative relationship with the Trump administration.
She took on the White House in February after it took a series of actions to increase transparency and allow access to additional media outlets, most notably allowing “new media” access to the White House Briefing Room and taking control over which outlets are permitted in the White House press pool.
Heinrich’s employer, Fox News, through its membership in the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), is one of the handful of outlets with a previous stranglehold on White House access.
Heinrich protested the move, which broke the WHCA’s monopoly as White House gatekeeper, arguing the WHCA, which previously chose the White House press corps, is democratically elected by those members.
“This move does not give the power back to the people – it gives power to the White House,” Heinrich, a WHCA board member, posted on X. “The WHCA is democratically elected by the full-time White House press corps.
“WHCA has determined pools for decades because only representatives FROM our outlets can determine resources all those outlets have – such as staffing – in order to get the President’s message out to the largest possible audience, no matter the day or hour.”
White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt made clear that Fox News would not lose access, but other organizations would gain the same access Fox News and a handful of WHCA-chosen outlets previously enjoyed to themselves.
“We will continue the rotation amongst the five major television networks to ensure the president’s remarks are heard far and wide around this world,” she said, adding “We will add additional streaming services, which reach different audiences than traditional cable and broadcast.”
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye
