The White House has restricted reporters’ access to key communication offices after officials say journalists were caught secretly recording staff conversations and attempting to overhear internal meetings, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed Wednesday.

Speaking on the Pod Force One podcast, Leavitt said reporters will no longer be permitted to freely roam into the Upper Press office and must now schedule appointments — a major rollback of decades of informal access.

According to Leavitt, the change followed “unruly” behavior from several reporters, including eavesdropping on morning staff meetings, covertly recording conversations, and lingering near the office during sensitive national security briefings. She said the problem intensified after Marco Rubio became National Security Advisor and consolidated communications authority under her and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung.

“We felt it became very inappropriate for reporters to be loitering around sensitive information,” Leavitt said, adding that Rubio was even “heckled” while heading into meetings.

Despite backlash from the press corps, Leavitt claimed some reporters quietly support the new rules — as long as the administration honors their requests for scheduled access.

“I give them as much time as I possibly can,” she said, noting that much of her schedule is spent in the Oval Office. “It’s my job to work with the press, but that doesn’t mean they get to invade our workspace.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)