White House press secretary Leavitt removed Wall Street Journal from Scotland trip press pool over Epstein reporting
On July 21, 2025, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt removed the Wall Street Journal from the 13-outlet press pool set to cover President Trump's trip to Scotland, saying the change was made "due to the Wall Street Journal's fake and defamatory conduct" — a reference to the paper's July 17 report on a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that Trump denied writing. The White House Correspondents' Association called the removal retaliatory and a First Amendment concern.
