A reporter from the Russian news agency TASS snuck into the contentious Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and was escorted out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The White House confirmed the reporter was not on the approved list of media and was removed once it was noticed he was in the Oval, putting him a few feet away from Trump and Zelensky.
‘TASS was not on the approved list of media for today’s pool. As soon as it came to the attention of press office staff that he was in the Oval, he was escorted out by the Press Secretary. He is not on the approved list for the press conference,’ the White House said.
The incident comes as the White House has cracked down on which news outlets are allowed in the press pool, the small group of reporters who trails the president.
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meet in the Oval Office
The Associated Press has been barred from the pool and other events. White House officials have repeatedly turned away reporters from that outlet from entering the Oval Office and presidential press conference.
Reuters, which is usually in the press pool, was also barred from Friday’s Oval Office meeting.
The White House can invite reporters from which ever outlet it likes into presidential events.
But the administration was also clear the TASS reporter, who was seen recording video inside the Oval, was not on the approved list of press.
TASS is a Russian state-owned media outlet. The reporter would have had to go through normal security procedures – which is a TSA-like screening process – to enter the White House.