White House Flooded With 7K Press Pass Requests After Open Call to Podcast Bros and Influencers

The White House received more than 7,000 press pass applications after Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, revealed that “new media” would be welcomed to a briefing room in the West Wing. The influx of applications came just one day after Leavitt announced the president’s desire to engage with “the new media landscape,” The Hill reported. “As long as you are creating news content of the day and are a legitimate independent journalist you are welcome to cover this White House,” she said during the press briefing. President Donald Trump seems to have taken a liking to online personalities—podcasters, social media influencers, and independent journalists—after they bolstered his rise to the White House for a second term. Leavitt on Tuesday expressed her vision for a briefing room where she can engage from the podium with “all media outlets and personalities,” adding that “it’s essential to our team that we share President Trump’s message everywhere.”