The White House press office will now choose which outlets get to cover the president in close quarters. This decision replaces the authority that has long rested with the 100-year-old White House Correspondents Association.

The announcement comes after the White House removed the Associated Press wire service from pool coverage and close access to the president. The AP sued the White House in response.

The five networks that make up the current daily television rotation will continue to be a part of the pool. However, yet-to-be-announced "streaming" services will be added to the rotation. Other new outlets will also be added to the print pool rotation.

The White House press secretary said that the goal is to give more outlets and new outlets a chance to take part in the press pool. She said that for decades, a group of D.C.-based journalists, the White House Correspondents Association, has dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the president of the United States in these most intimate spaces.

The president of the White House Correspondents Association said in a statement that the White House's decision "tears at the independence of a free press in the United States." He said that it suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president.

The announcement comes four days after the AP sued the White House over the decision to restrict its access to the president. The White House restricted the AP's access after the news outlet's stylebook declined to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as "The Gulf of America," a new name announced by President Trump by executive order.

The White House Correspondents Association, a nonprofit organization that represents more than 400 journalists covering the White House, has long decided which outlets are a part of the pool rotation covering presidents, and who sits in which chairs in the White House briefing room.