WASHINGTON

The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) said Monday that it is "disturbed" over the exclusion of reporters from three major wire services from traveling with US President Donald Trump on Air Force One to the Middle East.

In a statement, the WHCA said reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Reuters were not allowed to board Air Force One to cover the trip.

"Leaving out the wires is a disservice to Americans who need news about their president, especially on foreign trips where anything could happen and the consequences can impact the entire world," the statement said.

The WHCA emphasized the vital role of wire services in providing timely and accurate coverage to global audiences.

"The WHCA is disturbed by this new restriction on who can cover this White House and continued retaliation for independent editorial decisions. The WHCA is advocating for the wire service journalists to return to their seats on Air Force One where they have reliably covered every president for decades, not for us but for the millions of Americans who depend on their reporting every day," it added.

The decision follows the White House’s announcement that it would control rotation of the small handful of journalists who are granted access to most of the president's events, a role traditionally managed by the WHCA.

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt framed the move as an effort to increase inclusion within the press pool.

"The White House Correspondents' Association has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States in these most intimate spaces. Not anymore," Leavitt told reporters.

The White House barred AP from presidential events, the Oval Office and Air Force One after the agency continued referring to the "Gulf of Mexico" in its reporting, despite an executive order from Trump renaming it the "Gulf of America."