Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- January 17, 2017
- Location
- Washington, District of Columbia
- Targets
- Politico
A Politico reporter was prevented from entering the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for a previously-scheduled meeting on Jan. 17, 2017. When he identified himself as a journalist, he was told that “media” would not be allowed in the hotel during the week of Donald Trump's presidential inauguration.
“Media is not allowed in this week in respect of the privacy of our guests,” the hotel's director of sales and marketing told Politico in a statement.
The hotel is owned by Trump’s family real-estate company, The Trump Organization, which won a bid to redevelop the property for the federal government in 2012. The Trump Organization has a 60-year lease on the property; one condition of the lease is that the public must be granted access to certain areas of the building.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].