As world leaders prepare to convene this week for the Group of 20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, several prominent American news organizations have reported that some of their reporters were denied credentials to cover the event.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury has declined to grant access to individual journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg News. Among those excluded is Alan Rappeport, an economic policy reporter for The Times who focuses on the Treasury Department. Rappeport has attended nearly a dozen previous G7 and G20 meetings in person since he began covering the department in 2017. Matt Grossman, an economics reporter for The Wall Street Journal, was also denied a credential, though The Journal has declined to comment on the matter.
The New York Times responded to the decision by condemning it as a “blatant attempt to evade public scrutiny” and accused the administration of undermining independent journalism. The Times highlighted the importance of the meeting, with policy discussions expected to focus on issues including the Iran conflict, sanctions, bond markets, and inflation—matters with significant implications for both the global economy and the U.S. public.
A Treasury Department spokesperson noted that nearly 300 members of the media from around a dozen countries would be present, including reporters from NPR, The Washington Post, and Al Jazeera. The spokesperson emphasized that Secretary Bessent would engage in multiple media appearances, including interviews with outlets across the political spectrum. “Members of the media will have a high level of access to policymakers throughout the event,” the statement said, “and with that access comes a responsibility to report factual information consistent with established journalistic standards.”
The Treasury also confirmed that the credential granted to The Times was issued to Jim Tankersley, the paper’s Berlin bureau chief who covers European affairs. Meanwhile, The Times’s Washington bureau chief, Dick Stevenson, sent a letter to the Treasury Department requesting reconsideration of Rappeport’s exclusion; however, the department has yet to reverse its decision.
Observers note that this move aligns with previous restrictions on press access imposed during the Trump administration. Last year, a new Pentagon press policy led dozens of journalists from mainstream outlets to relinquish their press badges in protest. The Times subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, arguing the policy violated First Amendment rights, and a federal judge later ruled the policy unconstitutional.
The current Empire State-level exclusion of reporters from three major U.S. news organizations marks a continuation of the contentious relationship between federal agencies and the press regarding access to high-profile political events.