{
  "title": "Incidents: access bans in the United States, outcome sustained",
  "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents?country=US&tactic=access_ban&outcome=sustained",
  "filters": {
    "country": "US",
    "tactic": "access_ban",
    "outcome": "sustained"
  },
  "sort": "date",
  "count": 6,
  "page": 1,
  "pages": 1,
  "per_page": 50,
  "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.",
  "facets": {
    "country": [
      {
        "value": "US",
        "label": "United States",
        "rsf": {
          "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
          "year": 2026,
          "rank": 64,
          "of": 180,
          "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
          "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
        }
      }
    ],
    "continent": [
      {
        "value": "north-america",
        "label": "North America"
      }
    ],
    "tactic": [
      {
        "value": "access_ban",
        "label": "Access bans",
        "count": 6
      },
      {
        "value": "credential_control",
        "label": "Credential control",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "prior_restraint",
        "label": "Prior restraint",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "detention_and_violence",
        "label": "Detention and violence",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "stage": [
      {
        "value": "restrict",
        "label": "Restrict",
        "count": 6
      }
    ],
    "level": [
      {
        "value": "national",
        "label": "National",
        "count": 5
      },
      {
        "value": "state_or_province",
        "label": "State or province",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "outcome": [
      {
        "value": "sustained",
        "label": "Sustained",
        "count": 6
      }
    ],
    "leader": [
      {
        "value": "donald-trump",
        "label": "Donald Trump"
      },
      {
        "value": "george-hw-bush",
        "label": "George H. W. Bush"
      },
      {
        "value": "george-w-bush",
        "label": "George W. Bush"
      },
      {
        "value": "ron-desantis",
        "label": "Ron DeSantis"
      }
    ],
    "era": [
      {
        "value": "2020s",
        "label": "2020s",
        "count": 4
      },
      {
        "value": "2000s",
        "label": "2000s",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "1990s",
        "label": "1990s",
        "count": 1
      }
    ],
    "year": [
      {
        "value": "1991",
        "label": "1991",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2003",
        "label": "2003",
        "count": 1
      },
      {
        "value": "2025",
        "label": "2025",
        "count": 4
      }
    ],
    "has_case": [
      {
        "value": "0",
        "label": "without a court case",
        "count": 6
      }
    ]
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "slug": "2025-white-house-restricts-access-to-upper-press-office",
      "title": "White House closes 'Upper Press' section of West Wing to reporters",
      "occurred_on": "2025-10-31",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "donald-trump",
      "leader_name": "Donald Trump",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The White House said it acted after concluding that reporters had secretly recorded video and audio inside West Wing press offices and entered restricted areas, though it did not identify the reporters or recordings involved.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "The restricted access to Upper Press remained in effect; the WHCA's objection did not lead to a reversal in the source reviewed.",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "The White House began requiring reporters to make appointments before entering the 'Upper Press' area of the West Wing, home to the press secretary's and senior press aides' offices, citing a need to protect sensitive material after accusing reporters of secretly recording conversations there.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-restricts-access-to-upper-press-office"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2025-white-house-cuts-wire-service-pool-slot",
      "title": "White House ends wire services' guaranteed seat in the press pool",
      "occurred_on": "2025-04-15",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "donald-trump",
      "leader_name": "Donald Trump",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The change followed the White House's dispute with the Associated Press over its refusal to adopt the administration's \"Gulf of America\" naming, part of a broader restructuring of how the White House selected the press pool that began in February 2025.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": null,
      "outcome_note": "The dedicated wire-service pool seat was not restored; the outlets continued to compete for a rotating slot.",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "The White House ended the decades-old practice of guaranteeing wire services Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg a daily seat in the small press pool that covers the president, making them compete instead for a single rotating print slot alongside other outlets.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-white-house-cuts-wire-service-pool-slot"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool",
      "title": "United States: White House takes over selection of the presidential press pool, February 2025",
      "occurred_on": "2025-02-25",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban",
        "credential_control"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "donald-trump",
      "leader_name": "Donald Trump",
      "issue_of_the_day": null,
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2026-09-22",
      "outcome_note": "The White House selects the pool as of 2026-09-22, according to the Associated Press (s104).",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "On February 25, 2025, the White House announced that it would decide which journalists join the press pool, the small rotating group of reporters who cover the president of the United States in spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One and share what they gather with other outlets. The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), the organization of reporters who cover the president, said that for more than a century \"working journalists\" and \"not government officials\" had \"determined pool rotation procedures.\" As of 2026-09-22, the White House selects the pool, according to the Associated Press.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-whca-loses-control-of-press-pool"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2025-florida-halo-law-takes-effect",
      "title": "United States (Florida): Halo Law buffer zone around first responders, January 2025",
      "occurred_on": "2025-01-01",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US-FL",
      "level": "state_or_province",
      "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "ron-desantis",
      "leader_name": "Ron DeSantis",
      "issue_of_the_day": null,
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2025-01-01",
      "outcome_note": "In effect from 2025-01-01; the sources cited report no court order blocking it (as of 2026-09-22).",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2020s",
      "granularity": "granular",
      "status": "in_effect",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "On January 1, 2025, the \"Halo Law\" took effect in Florida, a state in the south-eastern United States. It creates a 25-foot (7.6-metre) buffer zone around first responders, such as police officers, firefighters and paramedics, while they are performing their duties, and anyone who enters the zone \"to 'harass, impede or threaten' first responders after receiving a warning\" faces up to 60 days in prison and a fine of US$500. The law applies to journalists as well as the public. The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed it in 2024.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-florida-halo-law-takes-effect"
    },
    {
      "slug": "2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq",
      "title": "Pentagon sets ground rules for journalists embedded with United States forces in Iraq",
      "occurred_on": "2003-02-10",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban",
        "prior_restraint"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "george-w-bush",
      "leader_name": "George W. Bush",
      "issue_of_the_day": "The buildup to and launch of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "2003-04-14",
      "outcome_note": "The embedding program ran through the invasion and became the Pentagon's standard model for media access in later conflicts.",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "2000s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "Ahead of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon assigned about 600 journalists to travel with United States military units under written ground rules restricting what they could report about troop numbers, operations and casualties.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2003-us-pentagon-embedding-rules-iraq"
    },
    {
      "slug": "1991-gulf-war-us-military-press-pools",
      "title": "United States military restricts reporters to escorted press pools during the Gulf War",
      "occurred_on": "1991-01-17",
      "occurred_on_precision": "day",
      "country": "US",
      "country_name": "United States",
      "continent": "north-america",
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "level": "national",
      "tactic_primary": "access_ban",
      "tactics": [
        "access_ban",
        "detention_and_violence"
      ],
      "leader_slug": "george-hw-bush",
      "leader_name": "George H. W. Bush",
      "issue_of_the_day": "U.S.-led coalition forces' campaign to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait after Iraq's August 1990 invasion.",
      "outcome": "sustained",
      "outcome_on": "1991-02-28",
      "outcome_note": "The pool system stayed in place through the war's end on February 28, 1991; the legal challenge in Nation Magazine v. Department of Defense was later dismissed as moot.",
      "stage": "restrict",
      "ladder_note": null,
      "rsf": {
        "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index",
        "year": 2026,
        "rank": 64,
        "of": 180,
        "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180",
        "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index"
      },
      "era": "1990s",
      "granularity": "anchor",
      "status": "historical",
      "case_count": 0,
      "summary": "The U.S. military required reporters covering the 1991 Gulf War to work in escorted \"pools\" rather than move freely, reviewed pool dispatches before release, and reporters who left the pools were captured or detained.",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1991-gulf-war-us-military-press-pools"
    }
  ],
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
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}