This White House has threatened in the past to revoke press credentials but now that threat has become a reality. Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank learned this week that his permanent pass was being revoked. It’s a press pass he’s held for 21 years:

The White House eliminated most briefings and severely restricted access to official events. And this week came the coup de grace: After covering four presidents, I received an email informing me that Trump’s press office had revoked my White House credential.

Milbank goes on to say:

I’m not the only one. I was part of a mass purge of “hard pass” holders after the White House implemented a new standard that designated as unqualified almost the entire White House press corps, including all seven of The Post’s White House correspondents. White House officials then chose which journalists would be granted “exceptions.” It did this over objections from news organizations and the White House Correspondents’ Association.

Must-read from @Milbank on the radical changes to how the White House is handing out press passes. All six of the Post's White House correspondents had their passes revoked and reinstated under "exceptions." https://t.co/exMqPlwXGH pic.twitter.com/k1AJAshet6 — Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) May 9, 2019

The Post’s Paul Fahri adds:

The new policy has been met with some confusion and even worry among journalists, some of whom suspect that the ultimate aim is to keep critics in the press away from the White House and President Trump. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders explicitly denied that, saying the changes were prompted by security concerns, not to punish journalists. “No one’s access is being limited,” she said Wednesday night.

But Milbank says the White House isn’t being up front about this new policy: