Russian State Media Gained Access To Oval Office During Trump’s Berating Of Zelensky Despite U.S. News Services Being Banned

A member of Russia’s state-owned news agency mysteriously gained access to the Oval Office to cover the contentious meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

>WATCH: TRUMP BERATES ZELENSKY IN THE OVAL OFFICE

Despite members of the AP and Reuters being barred from the high-level meeting, the White House said the journalist, a correspondent of TASS, was not authorized to be in the room during the meeting. As a member of a Russian state media organization, the journalist was among a group of hand-picked pool reporters in the Oval Office during the testy event, which was supposed to be followed by the signing of a deal to grant U.S. access to Ukraine’s mineral resources.

The White House denied giving the Russians access. “TASS was not on the approved media list for today’s pool,” a White House Official stated. “As soon as it came to the attention of press office staff that he was in the Oval [Office], he was escorted out by the Press Secretary.”

>READ MORE: TRUMP BANS AP FROM OVAL OFFICE

The gaffe comes three days after the White House announced it would wrest the choice of pool reporters from the White House Correspondents’ Association. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, promoted the move as democratic, emphasizing that the WHCA should no longer “have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House.”

The breach of protocol worried many observers as the TASS reporter could have represented a security risk. 

Although a member of Russia’s state-owned news agency was allowed access, pool staffers emphasized that the Associated Press and Reuters were prohibited from appearing during Trump and Zelensky’s conversation. The AP has been in a public fight with Trump over their refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico by Trump’s preferred name, the Gulf of America.