Covering the Trump White House: Journalists Reflect on Trump 2.0

As the 100th day of President Donald Trump’s second term approaches later this week, four veteran White House correspondents gathered at Georgetown University on April 22 to discuss the evolving challenges of covering the president — and what may lie ahead for journalists.

The panel, hosted by GU Politics and Georgetown’s undergraduate Journalism Program, was introduced by program director Rebecca Sinderbrand (C’99) and featured NBC News Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor (C’09), Associated Press reporter Seung Min Kim, New York Times chief White House correspondent Peter Baker and ABC News correspondent Karen Travers (C’00, MA’03), a Georgetown alumna who served as the moderator. 

The nearly 90-minute conversation, which took place just days in advance of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, spanned topics including press access, misinformation, shifting political dynamics and the role of journalism in an increasingly digital and fragmented media landscape.

“There are few moments in our nation’s history that have presented quite this array of challenges for individuals who are working to provide fair, smart, intense coverage of the presidency and the White House,” Sinderbrand said.

The panelists remarked that the second Trump term has felt significantly different than the first. 

Trump “has learned this time around how to turn the levers of power,” Baker said. 

The Republican Party, in general, has responded differently, as well, Kim added. “It’s really remarkable how little the resistance and pushback is now,” she said. “It’s actually pretty minor compared to what we used to see from these other Republican figures.”

Earlier this year, the White House announced it would select reporters that make up the press pool, which consists of a group of journalists who cover the president on behalf of a larger number of media outlets. Previously, an association of independent journalists handled that decision. The correspondents described how increasingly selective press briefings and the administration’s decision to ban the Associated Press from the White House press pool could limit the public’s ability to receive accurate, timely information. 

“I think when you have the White House – Democrats or Republicans – picking people, they might pick people who don’t want to hold them accountable,” Alcindor said.

The stories that journalists tell can help explain how the government’s actions directly impact people’s lives. Kim referenced exploring consequences of cuts made by the Trump Administration. “How does that affect how people can do their taxes and get their tax refunds?” Kim said. “What could it do to people who rely on, for example, Head Start programs?”

The conversation also explored the power of language in shaping narratives. Responding to an audience question about terminology, Alcindor said that journalists have a responsibility to explain the historical context and meaning of words or phrases used in the news. “I think language really, really matters,” she said.

Strong sourcing, the panelists agreed, remains essential. Sources can be found in multiple places. “I always tell people, if you have a story idea, your first stop shouldn’t always be the White House press office,” Kim said. “There are other ways to work around it and get a more interesting angle, figure out what’s going on.”

Baker likened the relentless pace of the news cycle to “playing Whac-A-Mole,” with developments surfacing faster than journalists can process them. “I think the challenge is,” he said, “how do we stop, take a breath and make sense of it all?”

Alcindor concluded that in today’s fragmented media environment—where journalists are no longer the sole gatekeepers of information—it’s more important than ever to be concise, clear and meet news consumers where they are when presenting the facts.

“It can’t be the other way around,” Alcindor said. “We as news producers have to continue to follow where people are gathering.”