The New White House Press Policy Has Barron Trump Written All Over It

Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump's White House press secretary, is the youngest person to ever hold the job, and in her first time behind the famous press podium, she announced that the White House press room would now be open to "new media." "The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities. Not just the legacy media seated in this room," Leavitt said. "We're also opening up this briefing room ... we welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators," via CBS News.

Anyone interested can apply via the White House website, and those selected "new media members" will be given front row seats. Nowhere in the announcement did Leavitt specifically mention Barron Trump; however, it sure sounds like a policy that he'd be on board with. Barron reportedly advised Donald to sit down with some famous podcasters during the campaign, including Adin Ross, Theo Von, and Joe Rogan. All those interviews got millions of streams, and it's a move that some help credit with helping him win the White House. It could be that Donald is hoping to capitalize on that kind of attention and focus in the White House press room.

In 2023, Joe Biden's press room was limited to reporters who, among other things, had an address in Washington D.C., regularly worked on White House related topics, and were full time media employees, according to Fox News. Those limits have been removed with Leavitt's announcement.

The application on the White House website includes a required field for the applicant's primary social account, contact details, and not much else. There wasn't any confirmation from Karoline Leavitt or anyone else in the Trump White House as to which applicants would be given priority, what all of the behind the scenes requirements would be, when the changes will be made, and whether it would be a rotating set of influencers/content creators. What we do know is that Leavitt and her team will be the ones making the decision, they'll take the seats once used by White House staffers, new media members will get the first questions during press briefings, and all successful applicants will have to pass a Secret Service background check.

Our guess is that those who have a history of supporting Donald Trump may be given priority; perhaps it will include some of Barron Trump's preferred podcasters? It might give him more reason to visit the White House; Melania Trump has hinted that Barron has no interest in living in the White House. 

Only time will tell which "new media" make the cut, but there seem to be no shortage of applicants. Social media has already lit up with people sharing on X (formerly known as Twitter) that they have thrown their hat in the ring.