Tim Pool Podcast Reportedly Joins the White House Press Pool

The Trump administration has bucked decades of precedent by denying some legacy media outlets access to the White House. In place of real journalists, the government increasingly seems to prefer the presence of partisan hacks and infotainment-style influencers. The newest addition to the White House press pool would appear to be a man who was once described by Splinter as a “beanie-headed dipshit,” and who, among other things, was recently accused of receiving millions of dollars from the Russian government.

“Right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool has made it to the White House pool — someone from his “Timcast” channel will be part of today’s pool duty covering the president,” Will Sommer, senior reporter for The Bulwark, wrote on X on Friday. “If you’re concerned about Tim Pool – revealed last year to be taking millions of dollars from the Russian govt, he says unwittingly – being part of the pool today, don’t worry. Today’s White House pool also includes the Falun Gong-owned Epoch Times,” Sommer added.

On his own X profile, Pool reposted Sommer’s tweet, writing merely: “Epic.” Gizmodo reached out to the White House and Timcast for more information.

The Trump administration has sought to transform and take control of the White House press pool in ways that defy any modern precedent. Most recently, the administration barred outlets like the Associated Press and Reuters from traditional kinds of access and coverage (like events on Air Force One or in the Oval Office) because they refused to update their style guide to conform with a recent executive order that renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

Meanwhile, the government has set up what it calls “Podcast Row,” a new forum that lets “creators” ask questions of government officials, while also streaming their shows live from the White House. “Welcome to The White House Podcast Row—where the viewership crushes CNN and the legacy media,” the White House posted on Instagram Thursday. The personalities included in the first event, which is set to be a regular occurrence, reportedly included Natalie Winters from Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast and Breanna Morello, an independent journalist who previously worked for Newsmax. Now, it seems possible Pool may have joined the group’s ranks.

“Bringing in new media outlets has obviously been a priority of this administration and we will explore all options that allow us to reach as many Americans as possible,” Kaelan Dorr, White House Deputy Communications Director, told The Verge.

The Trump administration has been savvy about tapping into new media’s ranks as a way to reach young, typically male, voters. The so-called “manosphere”—a circuit of male-oriented podcasts—has also been credited with helping deliver the young male vote to Trump during the 2024 presidential election. Joe Rogan, a key part of that media ecosystem, notably brought Trump on for a friendly conversation during the election’s final months.

Last year, an indictment from the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Pool and others had been paid by a Russian influence operation that sought to capitalize on anti-Ukrainian sentiment and seed it into the U.S. population through rightwing media. After the indictment dropped, Pool tweeted that he’d had no idea about the Russian affiliation. “That being said, we still do not know what is true as these are only allegations,” Pool said in a post on X. “Putin is a scumbag, Russia sucks donkey balls.” He later deleted the tweet.