Trump administration bars Wall Street Journal from Scotland trip amid Epstein dispute
The Trump administration has barred The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) from accompanying President Donald Trump on his upcoming trip to Scotland, escalating tensions over the newspaper’s recent reporting on Trump’s past ties to financier Jeffrey Epstein.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that WSJ will not be among the 13 media outlets traveling with the president this weekend, citing the newspaper’s “fake and defamatory conduct.” The decision follows a WSJ report alleging that Trump sent Epstein a “bawdy” letter for his 50th birthday in 2003, a claim the president has strongly denied, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Last week, Trump filed a $20 billion defamation lawsuit against the newspaper and its parent company, accusing it of deliberately spreading false information.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) has criticized the administration’s decision, calling it “deeply troubling.”
“Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media,” WHCA president Weijia Jiang said. The association urged the White House to reinstate the WSJ’s position in the press pool and on Air Force One.
This is not the first time the Trump administration has restricted media access. Earlier this year, the Associated Press was temporarily excluded from White House events after a dispute over the use of the name “Gulf of Mexico,” which Trump had ordered to be renamed “Gulf of America.”
The controversy comes as Trump faces mounting pressure to release more information about Epstein and government investigations into the disgraced financier’s past activities. Epstein, who died in jail in 2009 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking charges, once described Trump as a “closest friend,” though Trump has said they had a “falling out” more than 15 years ago.
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