AP Photographers Become Key Witnesses as Reporters Barred from White House Meetings

Matt Growcoot

A group of photographers closely gathered, holding large professional cameras with telephoto lenses, aiming their cameras in the same direction, suggesting a press event or media gathering.

The Associated Press has long been a fixture in the White House press pool, but earlier this year the entire organization found itself locked out over a dispute that stemmed from the correct name for the Gulf of Mexico — President Donald Trump wants it to be called the Gulf of America.

After a federal judge ordered the White House to restore AP’s access, AP photographers have found themselves reinstated and regularly cover Cabinet meetings and other goings on at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

However, AP reporters have not been given a similar welcome back and now find themselves regularly frozen out of presidential meetings. It is AP photographers who are bearing witness and therefore relied upon to give accounts of what happened.

For example in the video above, AP photojournalist Alex Brandon describes the scenes in the Cabinet room this week as Trump announced aid for U.S. farmers. Photographers have starred in similar videos in recent months, including AP photojournalist Julia Demaree Nikhinson describing Trump’s last Cabinet meeting of the year.

In October, AP’s Evan Vucci captured the remarkable moment Secretary of State Marco Rubio passed a note to Trump informing him peace in the Middle East was close. Vucci was able to capture the contents of the note and discussed it in a video for AP’s social channels.

But while the situation between the Trump administration and AP is adding to the photographers’ already heavy workloads, it is also a reflection of the media in 2025, where organizations are exploring ways to bring audiences behind the scenes. This is made easier thanks to the many platforms where content can be shared.

One example is the aforementioned Alex Brandon who captured photos of Trump reading a newspaper that featured coverage of his tariffs back in April. Clutching a copy of the New York Post while sitting in a limousine, Trump is seen absorbed in a story that he created.

“In a situation like this, I try to use a high shutter speed knowing that he is in a moving limousine and pan with the car as it goes by, hoping to get as many frames as possible,” Brandon explains. “I went into a nearby supermarket and checked the New York Post and found the exact page he was reading that had published my photo of him taken the day before.”

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.

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