The White House removed the Wall Street Journal from the press pool covering President Donald Trump’s trip to Scotland over a hit piece that alleged that Trump sent a lewd letter to convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday.
In a statement to Politico, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt referenced a previous ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in which the court ruled that the Trump administration could bar the Associated Press from covering some events at the White House. Leavitt noted that 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,” or in other spaces.
“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 explained. “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.”
As Breitbart News reported, the “alleged letter in question includes a third-person dialogue between Trump and Epstein inside the drawing of a naked woman, which includes Trump’s signature.”
The alleged letter in question includes a third-person dialogue between Trump and Epstein inside the drawing of a naked woman, which includes Trump’s signature, the Journal claims, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the outlet admitted to the administration it did not have possession of the letter it bases the story on.
After the outlet published the hit piece, Trump filed a lawsuit against News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones & Company Inc., and the reporters of the article.
“The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don’t draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn’t print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I’m going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Thank you for your attention to this matter! DJT.”
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