Treasury Department restricts journalists from covering North Carolina G20 meeting

By
FOX Local
Published August 31, 2026 4:55 PM EDT

FILE-The US Treasury Department logo is seen in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026. (Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Brief

    • The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News were not given credentials to cover the G20 meeting in North Carolina. 
    • Treasury Department officials denied the media outlets access to cover the gathering of international countries, but didn’t offer a reason, according to The Associated Press. 
    • The New York Times released a statement criticizing the action by the federal agency.

The Treasury Department is deterring some journalists from covering a finance meeting involving the world’s most powerful countries. 

Officials from the department did not explain their decision, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told The Associated Press Sunday that "it has nothing to do with point of view."

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Bessent is hosting the G20 meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, which runs Saturday through Tuesday, and includes finance ministers, central bank governors and senior officials from the world's top economies. 

Which journalists are prevented from covering the G20 meeting?

Dig deeper:

Individual reporters from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg News were not granted press credentials to the Group of 20 finance ministers' meeting, according to The Associated Press, citing The New York Times.

The AP noted that reporters who've been denied access include The New York Times' Alan Rappeport, who has been covering such meetings, and the Treasury Department since 2017. However, another reporter for the Times, Berlin bureau chief Jim Tankersley, is allowed to attend.

What they're saying:

The New York Times said in a statement obtained by the AP that denying American journalists access to an event in the U.S. is "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 New York Times added. "Excluding specific reporters and entire news organizations is a disservice to the public and an assault on press freedoms that we strongly condemn."

The Source: Information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, which cites comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and a statement from The New York Times. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.


 

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