U.S. Treasury bars New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg from G20 finance meeting in Asheville

The U.S. Treasury Department denied credentials to reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News for the Group of 20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, which began Monday and runs through Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is hosting the event, told the Associated Press on Sunday that the decision “has nothing to do with point of view” .
The excluded journalists include The New York Times’ Alan Rappeport, who has covered Treasury and G20 meetings since 2017, though the Times’ Berlin bureau chief, Jim Tankersley, was granted access. The Times stated that barring American journalists from a U.S. event is “not just another disturbing effort by the administration to undermine independent journalism, but a blatant attempt to evade public scrutiny,” adding that the G20 agenda—including the war in Iran, sanctions, bond markets and inflation—holds significant stakes for the global economy . Bloomberg News called the exclusion “an assault on press freedoms” and said it “undermines media freedom and public accountability” . The Wall Street Journal declined to comment.
The Treasury said nearly 300 journalists from about a dozen countries were accredited and emphasized their responsibility to report “factual information in line with established journalistic standards” . The meeting follows escalating tensions between the Trump administration and the media, including lawsuits against the Times and the Journal and cuts to public broadcasting subsidies .
Bessent is seeking to rally G20 members amid global economic strains, including the U.S. war with Iran and trade frictions with Canada. He told the AP the Treasury plans to impose sanctions on another bank and is prepared to use “financial violence if we have to” to pressure Iran, though he insisted the U.S. and China agree on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons . The G20 summit for heads of state is scheduled for December at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida.
Asheville, still recovering from Hurricane Helene in September 2024, was chosen as the host city. The U.S. has also imposed tariffs on Canada after a breakdown in negotiations, with Canadian provinces banning U.S. alcohol sales and restricting other imports, leading to an 81% drop in U.S. beverage exports to Canada, from $718 million to $137 million .
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