Trump White House Removes WSJ Reporter Off Trip As Punishment for Paper’s Epstein Bombshell

The Trump White House confirmed on Monday that it removed a Wall Street Journal reporter from the pool covering President Donald Trump’s weekend trip to Scotland in retaliation for the Journal’s report on Trump’s past ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement to Politico saying, “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.”

“Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board. 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,” added Leavitt, making clear the move was in response to the Journal reporting last week on a “bawdy” letter Trump wrote to Epstein for his 50th birthday.

Trump has since sued the Journal and its parent company owner Rupert Murdoch for defamation, seeking a whopping $10 billion in damages.

Trump also limited White House access to the Associated Press over the global news agency’s refusal to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” in its style guide. The AP initially won its suit to reinstate access in April, but an appeals court stayed that decision in June.

“Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” wrote the lower court judge in April, adding, “The Constitution requires no less.”