White House Pulls WSJ From Press Pool

By
Rachel Stevenson
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So here we are, watching the media meltdown of the week, and it’s a juicy one. The White House just slammed the door on The Wall Street Journal, blocking them from tagging along on President Trump’s weekend trip to Scotland. Why? Because apparently, you can’t smear the president with a “fake and defamatory” Epstein story and then expect to ride Air Force One like nothing happened.

Cue the gasps from the press corps and the pearl‑clutching statements about the First Amendment. But let’s start with the headline that made this blow-up: The Journal ran a piece suggesting Trump once sent a risque birthday message to Epstein back in 2003. The White House called it flat‑out fake. Trump himself? He didn’t just shrug it off—he filed a libel suit. And in case anyone missed the point, Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s press secretary, spelled it out: “They will not be one of the thirteen outlets on board.” That’s not subtle.

Now, here’s where it gets deliciously awkward for the legacy media. The White House isn’t hiding behind some procedural excuse. They’re saying it out loud: fake reporting gets you booted. And suddenly, all those same outlets that spent years cheering when conservative reporters were frozen out are scrambling to issue dire warnings about press freedom.

CBS’s Weijia Jiang put out a statement on behalf of the White House Correspondents’ Association, wringing hands about government retaliation. But wait—weren’t these the same people applauding when entire conservative platforms got throttled, shadow‑banned, and “fact‑checked” into oblivion? Funny how that outrage works only when it hits their own team.

And don’t forget, this isn’t the first time Trump’s White House has decided enough is enough. Earlier this year, the Associated Press got bounced from the pools entirely after refusing to use “Gulf of America.” You remember that flap—progressives howled, lawsuits flew, and yet somehow life went on. The left calls it authoritarian when Trump does it, but when Big Tech or Democrat administrations play gatekeeper, suddenly it’s “just policy.”

But here’s the part that should make every so‑called journalist sweat: the White House Correspondents’ Association used to control those press pool slots. They were the ones deciding who got close to the president. That power is gone now. Trump’s team yanked it earlier this year, calling out the D.C. cabal of journalists who’d been gatekeeping access for decades. Now the White House is calling the shots directly, and the establishment media doesn’t know how to handle it.

Behind the scenes, you can bet there’s panic. If The Wall Street Journal can get locked out over one story, who’s next? What about those outlets that push unverified leaks, smear jobs, and anonymous hit pieces on repeat?

The Scotland trip is just the start. The Journal can huff and puff about press freedom all it wants, but the reality is plain: they’re out, the lawsuit is in motion, and the rules of the game have changed. And somewhere in those D.C. newsrooms tonight, editors are wondering… whose press pass is getting clipped next?

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