The White house continues its retaliation against the wall street journal

Tuesday 22 July 2025 - 07:15

The White House has removed the Wall Street Journal from the list of journalists set to travel with President Donald Trump to Scotland this weekend, following the publication of an article discussing the relationship between the American president and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The 79-year-old billionaire is scheduled to visit Scotland, where he owns two golf resorts, from July 25 to 29 for a private trip. Despite this, he will meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his stay.

"Due to the Wall Street Journal's dishonest and defamatory behavior, they will not be one of the thirteen media outlets traveling aboard Air Force One," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt in a statement released to AFP on Monday.

Weijia Jiang, President of the White House Correspondents Association, called the decision "deeply troubling" in a statement and urged the Wall Street Journal's reinstatement.

On Friday, Donald Trump had already filed a defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its owner Rupert Murdoch after the publication of an article that linked him to a salacious letter sent to Jeffrey Epstein, an embarrassing revelation for the Republican president.

Trump is accused by some of his supporters of not fulfilling his transparency promises regarding Epstein, the wealthy financier with a vast social circle, who was charged with sex trafficking of minors in 2019 and was found dead in his prison cell before his trial.

Since Trump's return to power in January, the White House, amidst other attacks on the press, has reasserted control over the composition of the "pool" – the small group of journalists who closely follow the president, particularly on his airplane. This pool was previously organized by the media themselves through the White House Correspondents Association.

For instance, the American news agency Associated Press, a long-time pillar of the pool, was removed after it continued to use the term "Gulf of Mexico" instead of the "Gulf of America," as preferred by the American president.

In contrast, the White House has invited influencers and content creators associated with the "MAGA" (Make America Great Again) movement to join certain trips.

Epstein's death has fueled numerous conspiracy theories, with some claiming he was assassinated to prevent explosive revelations involving prominent figures. Proponents of the Trumpist movement have long pushed for the publication of a supposed secret list of Epstein's powerful clients, including Trump himself, who had a close relationship with the financier.

However, on July 7, the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI confirmed that there was no evidence of such a list or any blackmail attempts targeting high-profile individuals, triggering a flood of angry messages from MAGA accounts on social media.