The Grounded Press

But while Trump’s chief propagandist was welcomed aboard, there was apparently little room for actual journalists who work to inform the public with nonpartisan updates on the president’s moves and actions. Indeed, three of the country’s most important news organizations were barred from their usual spots aboard Air Force One. For the first time in modern history, no wire service reporters—none from the Associated Press, Reuters, or Bloomberg—were permitted to join the president for an overseas trip.

The move represents yet another dramatic break from decades of precedent, and one that immediately alarmed press advocates. The White House Correspondents’ Association on Monday evening condemned the decision, calling it “a disservice to every American who deserves to know what their highest elected leader is up to, as quickly as possible.”

“The White House pool was created to be representative of the different types of media outlets that serve different readers,” the organization said. “Leaving out the wires is a disservice to Americans who need news about their president, especially on foreign trips where anything could happen and the consequences can impact the entire world.”

The decision follows a standoff between the Trump administration and the AP, after the outlet declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America." When a federal judge ordered the AP’s access restored, the administration responded by simply eliminating the wire seat from the press pool altogether, punishing all wire services in the process.

Aboard Air Force One on this trip, I’m told, are two print reporters, one radio correspondent, four television journalists, and five photographers. It's unclear, however, which specific outlets are trailing the president on the plane. But Hannity conducted an interview with Trump from inside the aircraft, getting special access to the commander-in-chief ahead of the all-important trip.

Trump’s itinerary includes stops in Riyadh, Doha, and Abu Dhabi, as the Middle East simmers with overlapping crises. India and Pakistan are engaged in an alarming conflict. There are serious questions about Trump accepting from Qatar a $400 million luxury airliner to serve as the future Air Force One. And there is certain to be fallout if Trump follows through on reports that he may attempt to rename the Persian Gulf as the “Arabian Gulf” during the trip—a direct affront to Iran where tensions have been escalating.

Wire service reporters play a unique and vital role in covering these kinds of high-stakes moments. Their pool reports are often the first, neutral accounts of what the president is doing, who he’s meeting with, and how key events unfold. Their stories are distributed instantly across thousands of newspapers, websites, and TV stations—many of which do not have their own foreign correspondents or Washington bureaus. Which is why the WHCA said it was calling on the White House to restore access—”not for us, but for the millions of Americans who depend on their reporting every day.”

The exclusion of the wires is especially striking given the administration’s repeated—yet empty—claims of unprecedented transparency. While the White House frequently points to televised gaggles as proof of openness, decisions like this one tell a different story, one in which media access is increasingly distributed according to loyalty to Trump.

For decades, presidents of both parties have flown with press corps that included critics and independent reporters alike. It was part of the job. This White House, which takes inspiration from autocrats around the world, has bucked that American tradition, openly sidelining journalists who work to hold power to account while giving favorable treatment to those who peddle propaganda on its behalf.

Patrick's New Partner: The MAGA-curious Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong has a new media partner: Mark Halperin. Soon-Shiong joined the disgraced political journalist, who has been staging a comeback lately, for a video podcast last week. Toward the end of the interview, Halperin asked Soon-Shiong if he would be willing to participate in a weekly show with him focused on cancer, to which Soon-Shiong responded in the affirmative. The pair floated the idea as a partnership with LA Times Next, though it is unclear whether that will materialize.

► Speaking of Halperin, he’s been popping up on Fox News lately. Howard Kurtz, the once-respected media reporter, hosted Halperin for a chummy two-segment interview on “MediaBuzz” this past Sunday. Kurtz did not even make mention of the fact that Halperin faced serious accusations of sexual assault in the past, but still allowed him to use the interview as a promotional vehicle for his new media venture, 2WAY. Then on Monday, Bret Baier hosted Halperin on “Special Report.” It seems like a budding relationship between Halperin and the right-wing network.

• Fox News deleted an article published on Sunday that falsely claimed the body of journalist Austin Tice had been recovered in Syria. While Fox later published a separate unbylined story stating his body had not been recovered, it did not publish a correction or retraction.

  • In a statement to Status, a Fox News spokesperson said, “Fox News Digital aggregated a story about the remains of Americans killed by ISIS found in Syria which inaccurately reported that it had been determined Austin Tice’s remains were among them. As soon as the inaccuracy was brought to our attention, the story was removed from our website.”

• Clare Malone's big piece on The WaPo dropped, asking whether Jeff Bezos is "selling out" the storied newspaper. In the piece, Malone reported conservative journalist Matthew Continetti "is rumored to be in the running to become the Post’s next opinion editor." Malone reported Reason editor Katherine Mangu-Ward has also been interviewed for the job. [New Yorker]

  • 👀 Malone also quoted a former senior editor who said the “one thing that has damaged” embattled publisher Will Lewis “internally is that his drinking is widely known in the newsroom. It’s literally something his employees joke about.”

• Some of journalisms top names—including Gina Chua, Nicholas Thompson, Jason Koebler, and plenty more—explained how they’re using A.I. [CJR]

• In its first week, Jen Psaki’s “The Briefing” averaged 1.1 million total viewers and 92,000 in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 demographic. While those numbers are a far cry from Rachel Maddow’s viewership, no one expected Psaki to draw the same audience. Still, MSNBC brass will surely like to see Psaki grow the viewership from there.

• Pope Leo XIV lauded the work of journalists and defended the “truth” on Monday. He didn’t take questions from the press, which is customary, but did briefly chat with some individual journalists, including Lester Holt. [WaPo]

• The Barbara Walters documentary "Tell Me Everything" will stream on Hulu June 23 after debuting at Tribeca. [Variety]

• The Atlantic hired Alexandra Petri as a staff writer. [The Atlantic]

• The FT appointed Karl Oskar Teien as chief product officer. [TBN]

• Harvard Business Review named Dan McGinn editor. [TBN]

• MSNBC welcomed Jon Tester as a senior political analyst. [MSNBC]

In Plane Sight: Donald Trump’s plan to accept a $400 million luxury jet as a gift from Qatar has shocked even his own most ardent MAGA Media supporters. While the gift immediately set off alarms among independent observers and Democrats, it also prompted backlash from MAGA world. Laura Loomer, the fringe conspiracy theorist-turned-Trump whisperer, blasted the decision, calling it “a stain on the admin.” Tim Pool added the gift “bothers basically everyone.” And the plan was also condemned by Ben Shapiro, who said on his show the “skeezy stuff” from Trump must stop. “I think if we switch the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we'd all be freaking out on the right,” he said. The gift didn’t go over much better with the editorial board at Rupert Murdoch’s The WSJ, which wrote: “When Middle Eastern emirs offer the President a nine-figure gift, what comes to mind isn’t thrift.”

• While some on the right are calling out Donald Trump for accepting the gift from Qatar, Fox News has been fairly muted. The story was certainly not given top billing on Monday and the outlets roster of Trump supporters are not delivering stinging criticisms on air.

  • When Fox News did cover the scandal, Matt Gertz pointed out the network applied a “comically pathetic spin.” [MMFA]

• There was a brief standoff on Monday at the Library of Congress as DOJ officials sought access to the U.S. Copyright Office after Trump appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche as acting librarian, Maya Miller and Devlin Barrett reported. The Library of Congress, however, pushed back against the appointment and said it is waiting for Congress to weigh in. [NYT]

• Charlie Kirk called for members of Congress to “absolutely be charged” for having “stormed into a federal ICE facility,” actually going as far as to equate their behavior to the insurrectionists on January 6. [MMFA]

  • Steve Bannon also called for “certain members of Congress” to “be arrested.” [MMFA]

• Weird. Why did Fox News’ social media accounts wish Kai Trump a happy 18th birthday on Monday morning? [Instagram]

• Greg Gutfeld told Natalie Korach that he thinks it's "incredibly healthy for people to understand that they should not be believing everything" they read/see in media, but dodged when she asked whether that goes for Fox News as well. 🤔 [Vanity Fair]

• Hasan Piker detailed being detained by U.S. border agents at the airport while going through global entry. [Mediaite]

• YouTube star Ms. Rachel told Mehdi Hasan she felt “silence wasn’t a choice” after speaking out in support of Palestinian children in Gaza. [Zeteo]

Status Scoop | Meta Halts India Travel: Meta has suspended employee travel to India amid rising regional tensions with neighboring Pakistan, Status has learned. The internal restriction comes as security concerns have escalated following a series of cross-border incidents over the last week. It remains unclear how long the suspension will remain in place, and whether it affects all teams or specific units. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment.

• Meta removed A.I.-generated advertisements featuring fake endorsements from Jamie Lee Curtis after she complained directly to Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram. [Variety]

• Sam Altman's "eye-scanning orbs have arrived, sparking curiosity and fear," Queenie Wong reported. The orbs scan retinas and "offer a safe and convenient way for consumers to verify their human identity at a time when AI-powered tools can easily create fake audio and images of people," Wong explained. [LAT]

  • Ryan Broderick's take: "Create a machine that turns the internet into unreadable shit, spend years trying figuring out how to make it too addicting to quit, and then when we’re hooked, argue we need to kill anonymity online to fix it. And not only does Altman own the internet enshittifier company, look at that, he also owns the anonymity killing company too." [Garbage Day]

• Progress on OpenAI's Stargate has slowed because of the economic havoc prompted by Donald Trump's tariffs, Min Jeong Lee and Anto Antony reported. [Bloomberg]

• Google said it will start a new fund that invests in A.I. startups as it plays catchup in the defining space. [CNBC]

Hollywood Asks for Help: The powers that be in Hollywood, including Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone, asked Donald Trump to consider federal tax incentives to boost U.S. film production. In a letter made public Monday, which was signed by the Motion Picture Association and the big guilds, the coalition said they "strongly support" a reduced 15% corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturing work, among other incentives. "These potent tax measures would immediately make America more competitive, expand the American media industry, brings jobs back to America, and support the independent spirit of American business," the group wrote.

• 📈 Shares in Fox Corporation closed up more than 4% after the company reported Q3 earnings, with revenue at $4.37 billion, a 27% increase over the previous year, thanks to its airing of the Super Bowl.

  • On the earnings call, Lachlan Murdoch announced the company's forthcoming streamer will be called Fox One and launch before the NFL season. "Pricing will be healthy and not a discounted price," Murdoch said, adding that Fox is doing everything "humanely possible" to not canniblize the cable bundle. [CNBC]

  • Fox said Tubi has seen total viewing time increase 18% following its Super Bowl boost. [The Wrap]

• Ahead of its upfront presentation, Amazon Prime said its advertising-supported tier has surpassed 130 million active U.S. users—a 13% increase from last year. [The Wrap]

• Patrick Whitesell announced a new football representation firm aimed at athletes and coaches. [Deadline]

• Yikes! Nielsen faced some data glitches just as the upfronts got underway. [AdAge]

• Universal Music Group appointed Matt Ellis as chief financial officer. [Billboard]

• The Academy of Country Music Awards inked a deal to stream on Amazon Prime through 2028. [Variety]

Status Scoop | Indecision No More: Jon Stewart on Monday's "The Daily Show" will unveil “Indecision: Take a Seat,” a new campaign spotlighting the 70% of local races that went uncontested in 2024. Partnering with HeadCount, the initiative will encourage everyday citizens to run for office in the 53,000+ local elections still open for 2025—more than half of which are school boards and city councils. "We're hoping that can change because democracy works better when you got some choices," Stewart said on Monday's program, a sneak peek of which you can see here. Stewart added, “So if you’re tired of complaining about who’s running things, and would like other people to complain about you’re running things, scan the QR code, go to the link, and learn more.”

• The trial for Sean "Diddy" Combs got underway on Monday with prosecutors accusing the hip-hop mogul of "criminal" behavior. Combs’ defense argued it was about "voluntary adult choices" and that "the government has no place in this man's bedroom." [Variety]

  • Daniel Phillip, the prosecution’s second witness who worked as a male dancer, testified about having sex with Cassie Ventura in front of Combs, who directed their actions. In one instance, Phillip testified Combs instructed him to urinate on Ventura. Phillip also testified that Ventura appeared to be intoxicated on drugs at times. [CNN]

• There will be no nudity in Cannes! The annual film festival banned it, along with "voluminous outfits," from the red carpet. [THR]

• Uh oh. Kevin Costner's "Horizon" has spurred a legal battle with distributor New Line. [THR]

• BravoCon set a Las Vegas return in November, with Andy Cohen hosting five live shows. [Variety]

• Richard Linklater's "Blue Moon" got a limited release date of October 17 before going wide on October 24. [Variety]

• NBC said "Suits LA" was canceled after a single season because it was "not really showing the potential to grow." [Variety]

• NBC said it will air a live "Wicked" musical featuring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande this fall ahead of the release of the film's sequel. [CNN]

• NBC said Michael Jordan will be a special correspondent for its NBA coverage. [Deadline]

• NBC said "The Office" spinoff, "The Paper," will hit Peacock in September. [The Wrap]

• Netflix offered a first look at Lena Dunham in "Too Much," which will hit the streamer July 10. [Variety]

• NBC is planning a big special in 2026 to celebrate its 100th anniversary. [TV News Check]

• NBC said Snoop Dogg will host its New Years Eve special. [Deadline]