You know, sometimes the jokes just write themselves and that has definitely been the case today as reporters in the White House press corps and beyond have been in need of smelling salts after news that was announced during the Tuesday press briefing about the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA).

As RedState reported, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that, effective immediately the WHCA would no longer be in their longtime position of being the deciders of who got to join the press pool and have access to WH officials on up to the president - and that the Trump White House would be the ones handling it going forward.

"It’s beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925," Leavitt stated. "A select group of DC-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House."

READ MORE: Laughter From the Cheap Seats As Reporters Lose It Over White House WHCA Decision

“Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not," she continued. "But we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility."

The move, which caught the WHCA off-guard, prompted its president, Politico WH correspondent Eugene Daniels, to issue the following statement, which read in part:

"This move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president.  In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps."

[...]

“But the WHCA will never stop advocating for comprehensive access, full transparency and the right of the American public to read, listen to and watch reports from the White House, delivered without fear or favor.”

Interestingly, around the same time this statement was issued other news outlets were reporting something that undercut Daniels' point and which boosted the White House's:

Scoop @PuckNews: Politico White House correspondent and WHCA President @EugeneDaniels2 is leaving Politico to join MSNBC, where he will co-host a weekend roundtable show.

— Dylan Byers (@DylanByers) February 25, 2025

Needless to say, making a beeline to a purported news outlet that has the nickname "MSDNC" for a reason does not exactly win points in your favor on the issue of "independent journalism":

The same day everybody is defending the WHCA as some impartial bastion of integrity holding public officials accountable, its President announces he is going to MSNBC.

Just perfect.

— I'm Writing in Gary Johnson (@colorblindk1d) February 25, 2025

It absolutely is.

To repeat a point I made earlier, the jokes just write themselves sometimes and I'd like to thank Daniels and the White House Correspondents' Association for continuing to prove the point - in more ways than one.