White House drops Wall Street Journal from Trump’s Scotland trip pool after Epstein letter report; Trump files lawsuit. Photo/White House.
The White House on Monday late evening said it is dropping the Wall Street Journal from the press pool which is scheduled to visit with President Donald Trump on weekend to cover his Scotland trip.
The decison comes in the aftermath of a Wall Street Journal report alleging that President Trump sent a sexually suggestive birthday message to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. Trump has denied the existence of such a letter.
Also Read: US President Donald Trump In Trouble? Name Mentioned Repeatedly In Epstein Files
Tarini Parti, a White House reporter for the Wall Street Journal, had been scheduled to serve as the print pool reporter for the last two days of Trump’s four-day visit to his golf courses in Turnberry and Aberdeen, Scotland. However, Leavitt said the White House removed Parti from the trip’s manifest.
Parti was not among the two journalists who authored the Epstein story.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the decision to remove the Journal from the press pool, citing the outlet’s reporting.
“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 a statement.
She continued, “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.”
The president has also taken legal action against the Wall Street Journal. On Friday, Trump filed a lawsuit against the newspaper over its report describing his alleged innuendo-laced birthday message to Epstein.
Trump is seeking at least 10 billion dollars in damages and has dismissed the report as false. The Wall Street Journal, however, has said it stands by its reporting.
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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