The ABC has reportedly been barred from attending Donald Trump‘s press conference in London after one of the broadcaster’s star reporters asked the US President difficult questions.

John Lyons, the national broadcaster’s newly-minted Americas editor, was accused by Trump of ‘Harming Australia’ after he asked the US President about his business dealings when in office ahead of a scheduled trip to the UK.

 The ABC’s London bureau was told that its accreditation to attend a press conference between Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had been rescinded for ‘capacity reasons’, according to The Guardian. 

Trump was scheduled to have lunch with Starmer at the British PM’s country retreat, Chequers, on Thursday before a joint press conference between both leaders.

A spokesperson for the ABC insisted the London bureau was ‘still accredited to attend Chequers’.

‘However, Downing Street Media has said it no longer has a spot at the joint press conference due to logistical reasons,’ they added.

‘We have been given no indication this is connected to the questions put to President Trump by ABC Americas Editor John Lyons earlier this week.’

It is not unprecedented for Trump to take retaliatory action against news organisations.

He regularly rubbishes journalists as ‘fake news’ and on Wednesday filed a $15 billion  lawsuit against the New York Times after it published a crude birthday letter he sent to disgraced financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. 

Trump also banned the Associated Press after the news agency refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The ban was later found by a judge to be a violation of the First Amendment of the United States, which protects free speech. 

Lyons earned Trump’s ire on Tuesday when he asked him about his private business dealings since resuming office for his second term. 

This prompted Trump to wax lyrical on his plans for a new White House State Ballroom, which he is helping fund.

‘But is it appropriate, President Trump, that a president in office should be engaged in so much business activity?’ Lyons asked. 

Trump addressed the reporter as ‘John’ before he answered: ‘Well, I’m really not, my kids are running the businesses’. 

He then asked: ‘Where are you from?’

‘I’m from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with the Four Corners program,’ Lyons answered. 

Trump’s demeanor appeared to shift: ‘In my opinion, you are hurting Australia very much right now and they want to get along with me.

‘You know, your leader is coming over to see me very soon. I’m going to tell him about you, you set a very bad tone.’

The interaction  comes ahead of the long-awaited meeting between the Australian Prime Minister and President Trump.  

Albanese will fly to New York this weekend for the UN General Assembly where he hopes to secure his first face-to-face meeting with the US President. 

He will have three days next week to meet with the President since Trump will be attending the funeral of activist Charlie Kirk in Arizona on Sunday. 

Trump’s acknowledgement that the pair would meet during the exchange with Lyons is the strongest signal the meeting will indeed go ahead. 

The pair are expected to meet either on the sidelines of the UN meeting in New York or at the White House, before Albanese then travels on to London for a meeting with the UK Prime Minister. 

Lyons was appointed Americas editor at the ABC in March after serving as the broadcaster’s global affairs editor.