WASHINGTON — Reporters from The Wall Street Journal will not be permitted to join the official press pool traveling with President Donald Trump to Scotland after the outlet reported on alleged personal communications between the president and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Tarini Parti, who covers the White House for The Wall Street Journal, was originally scheduled to attend the trip this week but was later removed from the list after the outlet published a story detailing a sexually suggestive birthday card Trump allegedly gave Epstein for his 50th birthday. Parti did not write the initial story, but the White House cited the story as justification for the outlet’s removal.
“Thirteen diverse outlets will participate in the press pool to cover the President’s trip to Scotland,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to the Deseret News on Monday. “Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board.”
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Trump sent Epstein a birthday letter in 2003 with lewd comments and doodle.
“Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret,” the missive stated, according to the outlet.
Trump denied writing the letter, later filing a lawsuit against media mogul Rupert Murdoch over accusations of defamation.
“We have just filed a POWERHOUSE Lawsuit against everyone involved in publishing the false, malicious, defamatory, FAKE NEWS ‘article’ in the useless ‘rag’ that is, The Wall Street Journal,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday.
The Wall Street Journal’s removal from the foreign trip makes it the second outlet to be outright barred from certain coverage. The White House banned the Associated Press from accessing the Oval Office earlier this year over its refusal to use “Gulf of America” in its reporting.
Leavitt cited a federal appeals court ruling upholding that ban in her statement defending The Wall Street Journal’s removal.
“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.
The Wall Street Journal story comes amid growing pressure from within the Republican Party to release all files related to the Justice Department’s investigation into Epstein. The DOJ announced earlier this month there was no client list” or any evidence “that Epstein blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.”
Lawmakers have since filed different pieces of legislation pressing for the publication of all investigative materials despite Trump’s demands to drop the story altogether.
The president has since taken steps to quell frustration from his base, announcing last week that he would direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to begin unsealing grand jury testimony related to the case. In the meantime, GOP leaders on Capitol Hill say they have no plans to schedule votes on Epstein-related legislation.