Trump White House Bars Wall Street Journal from Scotland Trip After Epstein Report

The White House on Monday barred The Wall Street Journal from accompanying President Donald Trump on his upcoming trip to Scotland, days after the newspaper published a report alleging Trump once sent a bawdy birthday message to disgraced financier and alleged sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The move follows Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit filed Friday against the Journal and its owner, Rupert Murdoch, over the article, which Trump has denied. The administration’s response has further fueled tensions within Trump’s MAGA base, with calls growing for the full release of the so-called “Epstein Files.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the Journal‘s exclusion from the press pool for the trip, stating, “Due to The Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board Air Force One.”

This is not the first time the Trump administration has retaliated against critical media. The Associated Press has also been excluded from several key events since February. In a sweeping move earlier this year, the Trump administration revoked the White House Correspondents’ Association’s historic authority to decide press access, consolidating control under the president himself.

In response, WHCA President Weijia Jiang condemned the decision: “This attempt by the White House to punish a media outlet whose coverage it does not like is deeply troubling, and it defies the First Amendment.”

Trump is set to depart this weekend for Scotland, where he will visit his golf resorts and meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The Wall Street Journal article in question reported that Trump, in 2003, sent Epstein a birthday letter featuring a nude woman and a reference to a shared “secret.” Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for allegedly exploiting underage girls, was known to have socialized with Trump and other powerful figures. His death, officially ruled a suicide, has fueled persistent conspiracy theories among Trump’s far-right supporters.

Earlier this month, Trump-appointed Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the Department of Justice found no evidence Epstein maintained a “client list” or blackmail scheme—an assertion that has done little to quiet speculation.