Before answering these questions, we should look at the actual wording of the First Amendment:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

What exactly does “freedom of the Press” mean?

Does the phrase mean that people with Press credentials can absolutely do anything that they want and go anywhere that they want any time that they want?

Is that what the First Amendment says, or does it say that the members of the Press can publish and report anything that they learned through legal means?

These questions pertain to a decision made by the 2nd Trump Administration.

From NPR:

“In the White House briefing room Tuesday [25 February 2025], the Trump administration announced its latest steps to tighten its grip on the message it sends out and the news coverage it receives. No longer would the White House Correspondents’ Association, made up of news outlets that cover the White House, determine how they will share coverage of President Trump at major events where space is limited. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the assembled reporters the White House would make that determination instead.”

In short, the White House will now determine who can be in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room when the Press Secretary or any other person is speaking in that room.

In other words, the White House will determine who will be granted access to a particular room in the White House.

This controversy can be boiled down to this question: Who has the authority to determine who can sit inside the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room?

Does the First Amendment say that all who have Press credentials have a right to access to that room in the White House? Does the First Amendment give all who have Press credentials the right to be in any part of the White House that they want to be in?

Does the First Amendment say that the White House Press Secretary or Deputy Press Secretary or the POTUS or anyone else in the White House MUST give statements in front of anyone who has Press credentials?

Here is more from that NPR story:

“The AP filed a lawsuit over the ban, saying the White House violated its First Amendment free speech rights and its Fifth Amendment procedural rights, as it had no opportunity to appeal the decision internally. At a hearing on Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, pushed Justice Department lawyers to reconsider the administration’s stance toward the AP. Yet the judge also questioned why the correspondents’ association had such discretion over who participated.”

Here is the statement that should be one’s focus: “Yet the judge also questioned why the correspondents’ association had such discretion over who participated.”

That’s a good question. Does the First Amendment give the White House Correspondence Association the right to determine which members of the Press can be in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room?

If the First Amendment does NOT do that, then what does the Fifth Amendment have to do with this situation?

Granted, this blogger is not a constitutional attorney or a constitutional scholar. Yet, he does not read in the U.S. Constitution any right that the White House is violating.

Instead, doesn’t the First Amendment give the White House Press Secretary or Deputy Press Secretary or the POTUS or anyone else in the White House the right to NOT speak to a person with Press credentials?

For the record, this blogger loathes President Trump and voted against him three times. Yet, this blogger does not want to read the U.S. Constitution through the lense of his political beliefs.

Here is an additional question to consider: Does the aforementioned decision by the White House mean that the Public will NOT know what is said in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room when the Press Secretary or any other person is speaking in that room?

Does the decision mean that, or does it mean that NOT everyone with Press credentials can ask questions inside that room?

The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room contains 49 seats. Isn’t that enough seats to enable members of the Press to report to the Public what is said in that room?