WASHINGTON

The White House confirmed Monday that it removed The Wall Street Journal from the select group of reporters who will be covering US President Donald Trump's upcoming visit to Scotland due to its bombshell Jeffrey Epstein report.

The penalty comes in the wake of the Journal's reporting last week that claimed Trump wrote a lewd birthday letter to Epstein to celebrate the disgraced financier's 50th birthday. The White House has denied the veracity of the reporting, and Trump has sued the newspaper in retaliation.

“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," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

"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 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,” Leavitt added.

The Politico news outlet first reported on the White House's action.

Tarini Parti, the White House reporter for the Journal, was scheduled to have been the print pooler for the first two days of the president's trip, according to Politico. The White House took control of the pool rotation, a responsibility that the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) had held for decades, shortly after Trump came to office.

WHCA President Weijia Jiang sharply criticized the White House action, saying it "is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment."

"Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media," Jiang said in a statement.

"We strongly urge the White House to restore The Wall Street Journal to its previous position in the pool and aboard Air Force One for the president's upcoming trip to Scotland. The WHCA stands ready to work with the administration to find a quick resolution," she added.

The Journal's report last Thursday deepened the intrigue surrounding Trump and his connections to Epstein after the Justice Department announced that it determined Epstein died by suicide in 2019 and claimed he had no "client list."

The latter announcement sparked an outcry, in part because Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a Fox News interview in February that the document was "sitting on my desk right now."

The Justice Department's determinations have caused the most significant wedge within the president's MAGA movement to date with prominent voices demanding the release of all government documents related to Epstein. ​​​​​​​