President Donald Trump has barred The Wall Street Journal from covering his upcoming trip to Scotland.
The exclusion follows the Journal’s report alleging that Trump sent a birthday note featuring a drawing of a naked woman to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. Trump has filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the paper and its owner Rupert Murdoch, claiming “no authentic letter or drawing exists.”
Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Politico on Monday that Tarini Parti, a White House reporter for the Journal who had been slated to travel with the press pool this weekend, had been removed from the trip. Parti was not involved in reporting the Epstein story.
President Donald Trump is suing The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch for $10 billion over the paper’s article on his relationship with late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Murdoch visited Trump in the Oval Office in February. Craig Hudson/The Washington Post/Getty Images
“Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board,” Leavitt said in a statement to the Daily Beast. “Every news organization in the entire world wishes to cover President Trump, and the White House has taken significant steps to include as many voices as possible.”
A Journal spokesperson declined to comment to the Daily Beast, but the newspaper has said that it stands by its reporting on Trump’s relationship with Epstein.
White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) President Weijia Jiang condemned the ban in a statement.
“This attempt by the White House to punish a media outlet whose coverage it does not like is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment,” Jiang said. “Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media.”
The White House in June won a legal fight to ban the Associated Press from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other restricted areas amid a clash over the Gulf of Mexico name change. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
“We strongly urge the White House to restore the Wall Street Journal to its previous position in the pool and aboard Air Force One for the President’s upcoming trip to Scotland. The WHCA stands ready to work with the administration to find a quick resolution.”
Trump seized control of pool assignments from the WHCA in February, amid a feud with the Associated Press over its refusal to replace “Gulf of Mexico” with the Trump-preferred “Gulf of America.”
After a lower court ruled the White House ban on the AP unconstitutional, a federal appeals court reversed that decision in June, allowing the White House to bar the AP from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other restricted areas.
“As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,” Leavitt said in her statement to the Daily Beast. “Thirteen diverse outlets will participate in the press pool to cover the President’s trip to Scotland.”
Trump is scheduled to depart for Scotland on Friday, where he’ll visit his golf courses in Turnberry and Aberdeen and is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.