【By Observer Net, Wang Yi】Due to its report on U.S. President Trump writing a "lewd" birthday letter to the late American businessman Jeffrey Epstein, the U.S. "Wall Street Journal" was recently sued by Trump for "defamation." But his retaliation has not ended yet. CNN, CBS and other U.S. media reported that on July 21, the White House removed a reporter from the "Wall Street Journal" from the list of reporters accompanying Trump on his weekend trip to Scotland.

White House Press Secretary Levitt stated in a statement, "As recognized by the appellate court, the 'Wall Street Journal' or any other news organization does not have special privileges to interview in the White House Oval Office, Air Force One, or the president's private office," "13 different media outlets will participate in reporting on the president's trip to Scotland. Due to the 'Wall Street Journal's' false and defamatory actions, they will not be among the 13 media outlets."

On July 21 local time, White House Press Secretary Levitt spoke with the media outside the West Wing of the White House. Politico

The "false and defamatory actions" mentioned in the statement refer to the "Wall Street Journal" report on July 17. The newspaper had previously published an exclusive report stating that Trump had drawn a birthday card for Epstein in 2003 celebrating his 50th birthday, which contained sexual innuendos and "obscene" content.

Before the report was published, the "Wall Street Journal" had also specifically asked Trump to verify the authenticity of the letter, which he denied. He also threatened to sue if the newspaper published the report. On the day after the report was published, July 18, Trump sued the "Wall Street Journal" and its parent company Dow Jones, as well as Dow Jones's parent company News Corp and its owner, media mogul Murdoch.

CNN said that now, the White House is using its control over "the opportunity to interview Trump" as a tool to retaliate against the "Wall Street Journal."

According to the UK "Guardian," Trump's trip to Scotland was planned to advance Anglo-American trade negotiations and to visit his golf course there. However, the "Wall Street Journal" reporter Tarini Parti, who was excluded from the press corps, was not one of the journalists who signed the article about Trump's letter to Epstein.

The newspaper's spokesperson refused to comment on the retaliatory actions taken by the Trump administration, but last week, in response to the lawsuit, stated, "We are confident in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting and will actively respond to any lawsuit."

"The Trump administration's control over the press corps is greater than that of previous administrations," CBS pointed out. Previous administrations usually entrusted the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) with the distribution of who can interview the president when and where.

However, since February this year, Levitt announced that the U.S. government would take over this function, thereby gaining control over media access to the president's core activities. At that time, because the Associated Press refused to use the new name given by Trump to the Gulf of Mexico, "American Bay," the White House banned the media from interviewing in the Oval Office, Mar-a-Lago, and Air Force One. Soon after, the authority to allocate the press corps came under the White House.

On July 1 local time, Trump was interviewed on Air Force One. Visual China

Chairperson Weijia Jiang (音) of the WHCA strongly opposed the Trump administration's decision to remove the "Wall Street Journal" reporter, saying, "The White House is trying to punish a media outlet it doesn't like, which is deeply worrying. It openly violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Retaliating against news organizations for their reporting should raise alarms among all those who value freedom of speech and media independence."

"We strongly urge the White House to restore the 'Wall Street Journal's' position in the press corps and allow it to board Air Force One for the president's upcoming trip to Scotland," Jiang said. She added that the WHCA is ready to cooperate with the U.S. government at any time to find a quick solution.

Seth Stern, director of the "Foundation for Freedom of the Press" in the United States, also condemned the Trump team's move, saying that such actions not only violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, but also show that Trump is sensitive, easily angered, and full of revenge.

Stern also sarcastically said, "Hope the 'Wall Street Journal' reporters who were originally scheduled to join Trump on the golf trip can breathe a sigh of relief, as they can now use their newly gained free time to investigate more important news, such as Trump's relationship with Epstein and his unprecedented bullying of the media."

This article is an exclusive article from Observer Net. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7529788820057817636/

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