The U.S. Treasury Department has blocked individual reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg News from covering a Group of 20 finance ministers meeting taking place in Asheville, North Carolina. The specific journalists denied credentials include Alan Rappeport of the Times, who has covered such international finance gatherings and the Treasury Department since 2017, though another Times reporter, Jim Tankersley, received permission to attend.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated to the Associated Press that the credential denials had no connection to editorial viewpoint. However, the Treasury Department has not issued a public explanation for its decision. Bloomberg News reported that numerous journalists from its organization, including correspondents based in Europe and Asia, had their accreditation requests rejected. The Wall Street Journal declined to comment on the matter.
News organizations have characterized the credential denials as an infringement on press freedoms and public accountability. The Times issued a statement emphasizing that denying American journalists access to an event held on U.S. soil represents an effort to limit independent journalism and avoid transparency, particularly given the significance of agenda items including international relations, sanctions policy, bond markets, and economic conditions. Bloomberg similarly stated the decision undermines media freedom and public accountability.
The incident reflects broader tensions between the Trump administration and major U.S. news organizations. Earlier in the year, the Defense Department declared its press office a classified space closed to journalists following demands that reporters accept government-imposed restrictions. The Associated Press has also pursued legal action against Trump over access to the White House press pool after the news organization’s credentials were restricted for maintaining the geographic designation “Gulf of Mexico” rather than adopting the administration’s preferred “Gulf of America.” The G20 finance ministers meeting runs through Tuesday, with the broader G20 summit scheduled for December at a Trump golf club in Doral, Florida.
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