US Treasury bars reporters from several outlets from G20 meeting

THE US Treasury Department excluded journalists from several media outlets, including Bloomberg News and the Wall Street Journal, from coverage of this week’s Group of 20 finance ministers summit in Asheville, North Carolina, amid global market volatility and the US-Iran conflict. 

The department offered no explanation to Bloomberg for its decision to reject numerous accreditation requests for the summit of economic policy leaders and central bank governors.

The US holds the 2026 G20 presidency, and the Treasury controls access to this year’s meeting, which runs from Sunday (Sept 6) to Tuesday. The department said earlier that it expects to host more than 200 journalists from dozens of countries.

Markets are monitoring information coming from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent closely after he intervened to support the yen and the bond market, making him one of the most activist Treasury secretaries in history. 

Long-dated US bond yields have hit multiyear highs in August, in part driven by renewed inflation concerns and the rising US national debt, which hit more than US$40 trillion this month.

Bessent has also come under scrutiny for his handling of an economic pressure campaign designed to force Iran into negotiations to end the war started by President Donald Trump. 

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The Treasury Department also denied credentials to a US-based New York Times reporter, the paper reported. The German Finance Ministry successfully lobbied Treasury to accredit a Times reporter accompanying Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, according to ministry officials familiar with the matter. 

A separate push by German officials at a high diplomatic level to secure an accreditation for a Bloomberg reporter traveling with Klingbeil was not successful, the officials added. Other Bloomberg reporters based in the US, France, Italy, Japan and China were also denied access.

“Denying access to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting — a forum that undoubtedly serves the global public interest — undermines media freedom and public accountability,” a spokesperson for Bloomberg News said. “We will continue to advocate for full press access while reporting fairly and accurately on proceedings.” BLOOMBERG