Overview
- The memo, obtained Friday by Politico’s West Wing Playbook, barred Executive Office staff from talking to reporters without approval from the White House Communications Office.
- Susie Wiles warned that violations would bring sanctions up to termination and said leaks can disrupt operations or endanger missions of national significance.
- White House spokesperson Liz Huston defended the directive as a zero-tolerance rule against unauthorized media contact.
- Sources quoted by Politico described Wiles as broadly frustrated by leaks and said the move was not tied to a single incident.
- The crackdown fits a wider bid for tighter discipline that includes advising Cabinet officials to avoid nonessential international travel, and the leak of the memo itself underscores ongoing internal tensions that flow through the press.