White House Cordons Off Reporters From West Wing Communications Offices
The Trump administration’s latest attempts to curb press leaks bar White House reporters from the interior offices of top communications officials in the West Wing to protect national security secrets.
A memo sent to reporters Friday evening, addressed by the National Security Council (NSC) to President Donald Trump’s White House communications director Steven Cheung and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, states that journalists should no longer freely enter their offices, known as the “Upper Press,” located in Room 140, just steps from the Oval Office.
The White House communications staff also began directing National Security Council communications due to a recent “structural change,” the memo said. The “Upper Press” closure policy thus guarantees the security of sensitive material, the note states.
Reporters can continue to speak with more junior press secretaries outside the White House briefing room, the memo added. (RELATED: ‘Watching Mike Tyson Fight a Baby’: Democrats Couldn’t Stop Laughing at KJP Stump for His Book)
Cheung claimed in an article published Friday on X that journalists were caught listening to meetings with senior members of the Trump administration on Upper Press. Some journalists are also said to have surreptitiously recorded these engagements and photographed sensitive documents.
“Cabinet secretaries regularly come to our office for private meetings, only to be ambushed by journalists waiting outside our doors,” he said.
Some journalists have been caught secretly recording video and audio from our offices, as well as photos of sensitive information, without authorization.
Some journalists wandered into restricted areas (our offices are within walking distance of the Oval Office)
Some journalists were arrested… https://t.co/tosUqrcKGt
– Steven Cheung (@StevenCheung47) October 31, 2025
The White House Correspondents’ Association said in a statement Friday that it “unequivocally opposes” the move and that the press secretary’s office has long been open to gathering information.
“The new restrictions hinder the press’s ability to question officials, provide transparency and hold the government accountable, to the detriment of the American public,” Weijia Jiang, WHCA president and CBS News senior White House correspondent, said in a statement.
Statement on new restrictions on journalists at the White House. pic.twitter.com/rE7F4Ou1hh
– WHCA (@whca) October 31, 2025
President Bill Clinton’s former communications director, George Stephanopoulos, blocked journalists’ access to the Upper Press in 1993, reversing a 20-year precedent, according to press reports, inviting a public feud with the press. Soon after, Clinton reversed this policy in an effort to improve her media coverage. (RELATED: “Did She Just Sign?”: Indicted Democrat Drops Interview When Confronted with Video of Herself Obstructing ICE)
When Mark Gearan replaced Stephanopoulos as Clinton’s communications director, Stephanopoulos wrote his successor in a memo: “Mark, I can only give you one piece of advice: Open the door! according to a 1993 USA Today report.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news service, is available free to any legitimate news publisher capable of delivering a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and DCNF affiliation. For questions about our guidelines or our partnership, please contact licenses@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
