The majority of media was booted from President Trump’s dinner with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Wednesday “due to the sensitive nature of the meetings,” the White House said in a statement.
All but two reporters were banned from the room as Trump and Kim enjoyed a meal following their private sit-down at the upscale Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi.
“Due to the sensitive nature of the meetings we have limited the pool for the dinner to a smaller group, but ensured that representation of photographers, tv, radio and print Poolers are all in the room,” said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. “We are continuing to negotiate aspects of this historic summit and will always work to make sure the US media has as much access as possible.”
Four reporters in the capital to cover the historic second summit were prohibited from covering the beginning of the dinner. Sanders initially said no reporters were going to be allowed, but acquiesced when photographers banded together and said they wouldn’t cover it either.
A Wall Street Journal reporter and one radio reporter eventually were permitted.
Some of the journalists claimed they were barred as retribution for shouting questions about Michael Cohen and denuclearization ahead of the closed-door meeting with Kim.
“Several print reporters, including the three wire services, were barred from the Trump-Kim dinner after @jeffmason1 and I had asked questions of the president during earlier events,” tweeted Jonathan Lemire, who covers the White House for the Associated Press.
Reuters’ White House correspondent Jeff Mason tweeted, “Wire writers from @Reuters @AP @business were excluded from going with the press pool to see the dinner between @realDonaldTrump and #KimJongUn. AP colleague @JonLemire and I were among those. We both asked questions during the first ‘pool spray’ when the two leaders shook hands.”
The out-of-town media pool covering the two-day summit includes AP, Reuters, Bloomberg, CBS, the Wall Street Journal and NPR. Photographers from AP, Reuters, Agence France-Press and the New York Times were also on hand.
With Post wires
