The US Treasury Department has excluded journalists from several major news organisations, including The New York Times, Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, from covering the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.The meeting, hosted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is being held amid heightened global market volatility and the ongoing US-Iran conflict. The gathering brings together finance ministers, central bank governors and senior economic officials from the world’s leading economies.The Treasury has not explained why it rejected the accreditation requests. Bessent told The Associated Press that the decision “has nothing to do with point of view”.According to Bloomberg News, several of its journalists, including reporters based in the US, France, Italy, Japan and China, were denied access. The news agency said the exclusion undermines media freedom and public accountability.The New York Times also reported that its Treasury correspondent Alan Rappeport, who has covered the department and such international meetings since 2017, was denied credentials.However, Times Berlin bureau chief Jim Tankersley was allowed to attend after German officials intervened, Bloomberg reported.The Times condemned the decision, calling it an attempt by the Trump administration to undermine independent journalism and evade public scrutiny, particularly as issues including Iran, sanctions, inflation and global bond markets are on the G20 agenda.The Wall Street Journal also did not receive access, though the newspaper declined to comment, according to the reports.The US is holding the G20 presidency this year, with the Treasury expecting more than 200 journalists from dozens of countries to cover the finance ministers’ meeting, which runs through Tuesday.The development comes amid broader tensions between the Trump administration and the US media, including restrictions imposed on journalists covering the Pentagon.
