The New York Times issued a scathing rebuke of the White House on Tuesday after the administration banned a Wall Street Journal reporter from covering President Donald Trump's upcoming overseas trip, labeling the move "simple retribution."
"The White House's refusal to let one of the nation's leading news organizations cover the highest office in the country is an attack on core constitutional principles underpinning free speech and free press," the Times posted on social media.
"Americans regardless of party deserve to know and understand the actions of the president and reporters play a vital role in advancing the public interest. This is simple retribution by a president against a news organization for doing reporting that he doesn't like. Such actions deprive Americans of information about how their government operates," the post added.
The Trump administration removed a Journal reporter from its press pool on Monday for the president's upcoming trip to Scotland over the outlet's story on Trump's alleged "bawdy" letter to disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The Journal claimed last week that Trump had given Epstein a birthday letter that featured a hand-drawn image of a naked woman and a suggestive closing line that read, "Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret." The Journal claimed that Trump gave Epstein the letter in the early 2000s, and it then became part of a book of letters from other high-profile friends and acquaintances for Epstein's 50th birthday in 2003.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the removal happened over the paper's "fake and defamatory conduct."
"Thirteen diverse outlets will participate in the press pool to cover the president's trip to Scotland. Due to The Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the 13 outlets on board," Leavitt said in a statement. "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."
Trump then filed a libel lawsuit on Friday of last week over the printing of the story, seeking at least $20 billion in damages. The lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida includes two counts of defamation each seeking $10 billion in damages. Trump's lawsuit alleges the Journal's story was "false, defamatory, unsubstantiated, and disparaging" and accuses the Journal of "clear journalistic failures."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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