White House punishes WSJ for Epstein coverage, excludes it from press pool to travel with Trump to Scotland

The White House announced Monday that The Wall Street Journal was excluded from the press pool that will travel with President Donald Trump to Scotland. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt bluntly explained that the move was due to the WSJ's "fake and defamatory conduct" regarding Jeffrey Epstein, referring to a recent article the paper published that led Trump to file a lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper.

"As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet is not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces," Leavitt said Monday. "Thirteen diverse outlets will participate in the press pool to cover the president’s trip to Scotland."

The White House decision comes just days after The Wall Street Journal published a report that attributed to President Trump an allegedly risqué letter allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein on the occasion of his 50th birthday. According to the newspaper, the missive included a bizarre fantasy-tinged dialogue between the two and a sketch of a naked woman. Trump strongly denied any link to the letter and filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the WSJ.

The WSJ defended itself against the lawsuit, asserting that it had full confidence in the integrity and veracity of its reporting.

Now, the White House retaliated directly for the report, using one of the cards it has in its favor to pressure Murdoch and the newspapers: access to the president.

According to CNN, a WSJ reporter (who was not involved in the story about Epstein's alleged birthday letter) had already secured his spot within the press pool that would travel with Trump to his golf courses in Scotland. However, the White House had no obstacle in removing him from the list.

Previously, the press pool assignments accompanying the president were determined by the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA), but, since February, press secretary Leavitt excluded the group and took direct control, giving it more weight to the Trump Administration.

The punishment against the WSJ is not the first of its kind. Previously, the Associated Press suffered firsthand retaliation from the Trump Administration when the agency decided to continue using the name "Gulf of Mexico" over "Gulf of America," a change instituted by President Trump early in his term via presidential order. The case sparked a major legal battle and generated sparks between the agency and the White House.