The Wall Street Journal will not be accompanying President Trump on his upcoming trip to Scotland after the paper published a story linking him to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Politico that Journal reporter Tarini Parti planned to be part of a pool reporting on the second half of Trump’s excursion beginning Friday, but plans have changed.
The White House has been stewing since the paper ran a story last week claiming Trump sent Epstein a bawdy yet cryptic note for the late financier’s 50th birthday in 2003. Epstein, a convicted sexual predator, died in prison in 2019 while his relationship with underaged girls was under scrutiny.
Trump — once a party pal of Epstein’s — insists the card is a fake and is suing the Journal.
“Due to the Wall Street Journal’s fake and defamatory conduct, they will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board,” Leavitt said in a statement published by Politico. “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.”
The Journal stands by its reporting on the birthday letter. The reporter the paper planned to send to Scotland aboard Air Force One doesn’t appear to have worked on the story in question.
The note allegedly sent to Epstein concludes “Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
The Department of Justice recently stated that “Epstein harmed over one thousand victims” before his arrest in July 2019.
Trump hasn’t been charged with illegal activity in connection to Epstein and has expressed frustration with ongoing questions about their relationship.
He told New York magazine in 2003 the women Epstein was attracted to “are on the younger side,” while praising the predator as “a lot of fun to be with.”
The President claims he and Epstein at some point had a falling out.
