The US Treasury Department has denied accreditation to journalists from several major American news organisations seeking to cover a Group of 20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
The decision affects individual reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News, adding to growing concerns over media access under President Donald Trump’s administration.
The Treasury has not publicly explained why the journalists were denied credentials. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, rejected suggestions that the decision was politically motivated.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Sunday, Bessent said, “it has nothing to do with point of view.”
Among those denied access is New York Times reporter Alan Rappeport, who has covered the Treasury Department and international finance meetings since 2017. Another Times journalist, Berlin bureau chief Jim Tankersley, was granted accreditation.
The New York Times condemned the decision, arguing that restricting US journalists from covering a major international economic meeting inside the country undermines transparency.
The newspaper said denying access was “not just another disturbing effort by the administration to undermine independent journalism, but a blatant attempt to evade public scrutiny.”
“With the war in Iran, sanctions, the bond markets, and inflation on the agenda for the G20 finance ministers, the stakes of this gathering are significant for the global economy and the American people,” the Times said.
“Excluding specific reporters and entire news organizations is a disservice to the public and an assault on press freedoms that we strongly condemn.”
Bloomberg News also reported that “numerous” journalists from its organisation, including reporters based in Europe and Asia, had their accreditation requests rejected.
The news agency said the decision “undermines media freedom and public accountability.”
Bessent is hosting the G20 finance meeting, which began on Saturday and is scheduled to run until Tuesday. The gathering brings together finance ministers, central bank governors and senior officials from the world’s leading economies.
The broader G20 summit, which will bring together heads of government, is scheduled for December at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida.
The latest dispute comes amid increasingly strained relations between the Trump administration and several US media organisations, with disagreements over press access also reaching the courts.
Earlier this year, the Defense Department designated its press office as a classified area, preventing journalists from accessing the space. The move followed a dispute over government-imposed restrictions on reporters’ work, which led most major news organisations to leave the Pentagon building last year.
The Associated Press has also taken legal action against the Trump administration after its access to the White House press pool was restricted over its continued use of “Gulf of Mexico” instead of the administration’s preferred “Gulf of America.”
