Composite story
Treasury bars NYT, WSJ and Bloomberg reporters from G20 talks in Asheville
Asheville, North CarolinaPublished 31 Aug 2026
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U.S. Department of the Treasury / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain · source
Newsrooms call the credential denials an effort to evade scrutiny. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the decisions have nothing to do with point of view and that nearly 300 other journalists were let in.
The U.S. Treasury Department did not credential individual reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News for the G20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the AP the decisions had nothing to do with point of view; a spokesperson said nearly 300 journalists from about a dozen countries were welcomed. Newsrooms called the denials an attempt to evade public scrutiny. Germany’s finance ministry won accreditation for a New York Times reporter traveling with Lars Klingbeil but failed to get a Bloomberg reporter in.
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US Treasury blocks certain journalists from G20 meeting in North Carolina
Published 30 Aug 2026 accessed 31 Aug 2026
Facts
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the AP the decisions have nothing to do with point of view.
The Times said excluding specific reporters and entire news organizations is a disservice to the public and an assault on press freedoms.
Bessent is hosting the G20 meeting.
The G20 meeting runs Saturday through Tuesday.
This year’s G20 heads-of-state summit is being held in December at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida.
The Pentagon demanded reporters agree to government-imposed restrictions, prompting most news outlets to leave the building last fall.
The Associated Press sued Trump over access to the White House press pool.
AP’s access was curtailed for using the name Gulf of Mexico after the administration ordered it renamed the Gulf of America.
Opinion
The denial is the latest example of how the Trump administration has restricted media access.
Tensions have been escalating between U.S. media and the second Trump administration in public and in the courts.
US Treasury Bars Reporters From Several Outlets From G20 Meeting
Published 30 Aug 2026 accessed 31 Aug 2026
Facts
Treasury said earlier it expects to host more than 200 journalists from dozens of countries.
The meeting runs from Sunday to Tuesday.
Bessent intervened to support the yen and the bond market.
Long-dated U.S. bond yields have hit multiyear highs in August.
U.S. national debt hit more than $40 trillion this month.
Bloomberg said excluding multiple major outlets from such an event has little precedent among past G20 hosts, including Russia and China, and is unprecedented for the U.S. government.
Bessent has come under scrutiny for an economic pressure campaign designed to force Iran into negotiations.
The Obama administration in 2009 tried to exclude Fox News from an interview with Treasury pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.
The White House relented after other networks threatened to boycott.
The Defense Department barred media organizations from keeping offices in the Pentagon.
The Fed said Chair Kevin Warsh is co-hosting the finance ministers meeting, will attend, and may deliver brief remarks at the start of some sessions.
The Federal Reserve declined to comment.
Opinion
That intervention makes Bessent one of the most activist Treasury secretaries in history.
US Treasury bars some reporters from G20 finance talks
Published 31 Aug 2026 accessed 31 Aug 2026
Facts
A Treasury spokesperson said coverage should not prioritize clicks, engagement, or sensationalism.
Opinion
No opinion marked.
US Treasury bars some reporters from G-20 finance meeting
Published 30 Aug 2026 accessed 31 Aug 2026
Facts
Wall Street Journal economics reporter Matt Grossman was also denied a credential.
Rappeport has attended nearly a dozen G-7 and G-20 meetings in person.
Treasury said Bessent will take part in numerous media engagements, including one-on-one interviews across the political spectrum.
Treasury said the list included reporters from NPR, The Washington Post and Al Jazeera.
Times Washington bureau chief Dick Stevenson sent a letter to Treasury on Aug. 27 asking officials to reconsider denying Rappeport credentials.
Treasury said a reporter from the Times would attend.
Treasury has not reversed the decision.
In 2025 the Pentagon imposed a restrictive press policy that prompted dozens of journalists to surrender their press badges.
The Times sued the Pentagon arguing the press policy violated the First Amendment, and a judge later ruled it unconstitutional.
Opinion
Excluding individual reporters is the latest example of the Trump administration restricting access to certain journalists.
US-Finanzministerium verweigert Journalisten Akkreditierung für G-20-Treffen
Published 31 Aug 2026 accessed 31 Aug 2026
Facts
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is attending the Asheville meeting.
A German ministry spokeswoman said Klingbeil will hold bilateral talks with the Canadian finance minister and the Indian finance minister.
A visit to a BMW plant in South Carolina is scheduled for Tuesday.
Opinion
Blocking unwelcome media is part of a Trump campaign against outlets he labels too critical or “left.”
At press conferences Trump often spars with journalists he finds inconvenient and insults them as incompetent.
US-Finanzministerium verweigert Journalisten Zugang zu G20-Treffen
Published 31 Aug 2026 accessed 31 Aug 2026
Facts
Lars Klingbeil’s delegation was also affected by accreditation problems.
Klingbeil’s delegation told dpa that Treasury’s treatment of an international news agency was unprecedented and unacceptable to the German government.
Welker had reported critically on the record of Trump-backed candidates in the primaries ahead of November’s congressional elections.
Opinion
Since the start of his second term Trump has repeatedly tried to stop news organizations from reporting critically.