The White House said it would remove the Wall Street Journal from the small group of reporters travelling with the president on his upcoming trip to Scotland after the newspaper published a story alleging Donald Trump once sent a suggestive birthday letter to the late, disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“As the appeals court confirmed, the Wall Street Journal or any other news outlet are not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in his private workspaces,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Leavitt did not say if the Journal would also be blocked from travelling with the president on domestic trips, or covering him in restricted environments like the Oval Office.

The Wall Street Journal declined to comment, but a spokesperson previously said they had “full confidence in the rigour and accuracy of our reporting”. The White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents journalists covering the president, denounced the move.

“Government retaliation against news outlets based on the content of their reporting should concern all who value free speech and an independent media,” WHCA president Weijia Jiang said in a statement.

The flap is the latest instance of the White House exerting control over the configuration of the rotating groups of journalists who cover the president around the clock and can access environments with limited space – effectively pooling their resources when coverage by every outlet is impractical.