World
White House bars AP, Reuters and other media from covering Trump cabinet meeting
The three wire services that have traditionally served as permanent members of the White House pool, the AP, Bloomberg and Reuters, on Wednesday released a statement, in response to the new policy.
The White House on Wednesday denied reporters from Reuters and other news organizations access to President Donald Trump’s first cabinet meeting in keeping with the administration’s new policy regarding media coverage.
The White House denied access to an Associated Press photographer and three reporters from Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper.
TV crews from ABC and Newsmax, along with correspondents from Axios, the Blaze, Bloomberg News and NPR were permitted to cover the event.
On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced the White House would determine which media outlets would cover the president in smaller spaces such as the Oval Office.
The White House Correspondents’ Association has traditionally coordinated the rotation of the presidential press pool. Reuters, an international wire service, has participated in the pool for decades.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while traditional media organizations would still be permitted to cover Trump on a day-to-day basis, the administration plans to change who participates in smaller spaces. The pool system, administered by the WHCA, allowed select television, radio, wire, print and photojournalists to cover events and share their reporting with the broader media.
The three wire services that have traditionally served as permanent members of the White House pool, the AP, Bloomberg and Reuters, on Wednesday released a statement, in response to the new policy.
The services “have long worked to ensure that accurate, fair and timely information about the presidency is communicated to a broad audience of all political persuasions, both in the United States and globally. Much of the White House coverage people see in their local news outlets, wherever they are in the world, comes from the wires,” the statement from the three organizations said.
“It is essential in a democracy for the public to have access to news about their government from an independent, free press.”
HuffPost, called the White House decision a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of the press.
Der Tagesspiegel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, the WHCA also issued a statement protesting the new White House policy.
The move follows the Trump administration’s decision to bar the Associated Press from being in the pool because it has declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, the name Trump has assigned the body of water, or update its widely followed stylebook to reflect such a change.
Leavitt said the five major cable and broadcast television networks would continue to hold their rotating seats in the pool while the White House would add streaming services. Rotating print reporters and radio reporters would continue to be included, while new outlets and radio hosts would be added.
World
Zelenskiy says letting Russia sell diesel to US is ‘investment in war’
“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world,” Zelenskiy wrote on the X social media platform.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy criticised an accord on Friday between the US and Russia allowing Moscow to provide the US with diesel, calling it “an investment in a war that must be ended.”
He dismissed the accord, which was announced while a Ukrainian delegation was in the US to discuss how to seek a resolution of the war with Russia, as “a weak decision on the part of strong partners”.
“Gifts to Putin will not bring peace or any benefit to the civilised world,” Zelenskiy wrote on the X social media platform.
“Russia will ‘repay’ the diesel with further terror and perfidy. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged. What is needed is real de-escalation with Russia on a reciprocal basis,” Zelenskiy said.
Trump said in a post on social media that he had agreed in a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia would immediately supply diesel to the US and global marketplace. Trump said lower prices for Americans “is my Greatest Priority”.
Zelenskiy, speaking to reporters later on WhatsApp, said the accord would provide Moscow with additional funds to wage war and undermine any attempts to work towards a settlement.
“I believe our team is simply being used as a front. And that is certainly not fair, nor is it how partners should treat each other,” he said. “In my view, it is a weak decision on the part of strong partners.”
The administration of US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, escalating tensions with the international judicial body and potentially straining relations with European allies.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures aim to prevent the ICC from prosecuting American citizens and restrict the court’s resources and operations.
Washington has criticised the ICC over arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, as well as its past investigation into alleged crimes by US personnel in Afghanistan.
The ICC condemned the sanctions as an “assault on the rule of law” and vowed to continue its investigations and prosecutions. It also urged its 125 member states to defend the court’s independence.
The announcement came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, with the Nobel committee highlighting the importance of international justice amid political pressure on legal institutions.
The sanctions threaten to deepen the dispute between Washington and the ICC, raising concerns about international judicial cooperation and the court’s ability to carry out its work.
South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her efforts to promote peace and international law, as international justice institutions face growing political pressure.
The Nobel Committee announced the award hours before the United States imposed sanctions on the ICC, saying the recognition highlighted the importance of preserving an international order based on law and justice.
Pillay, 85, has served as a judge on several international courts, including the ICC and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. She also chaired a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. Israel rejected the report as “scandalous.”
The Nobel Committee warned that international law and its institutions were under significant pressure, cautioning that a shift towards power politics at the expense of legal frameworks threatened stability and peaceful coexistence.
The award comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and the ICC. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised the court, particularly over its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister.
Netanyahu’s office condemned the Nobel decision, accusing the committee of awarding its highest honour to someone it said had promoted allegations against Israel.
The award and the US sanctions have renewed international debate over the role of legal institutions in addressing alleged war crimes and protecting accountability under international law.
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