BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — President Javier Milei of Argentina restored journalists' access to his government headquarters on Monday, more than a week after his decision to block credentialed reporters from the building — accompanied by a volley of online insults — triggered backlash from lawmakers and press freedom advocates.
Journalists said early Monday that they could enter the Casa Rosada — or the Pink House, Argentina’s equivalent of the White House — for the first time since April 23. That was the day that Milei’s spokesperson announced the closure of the press room used for decades by reporters with credentials to cover the president.
The ban added to a list of attacks and reprisals against news organizations by Milei, whose hostility toward the press mirrors the aggressive approach of his ally and powerful backer, U.S. President Donald Trump. Journalists and their advocates rebuked the move as an attack on press freedom in Argentina.
In the past two years, Argentina’s ranking has plummeted on a press freedom index maintained by Reporters Without Borders, the group reported last week. It fell from 66 to 98 — among the biggest drops of any country in South America.
Authorities justified the restrictions for the roughly 60 members of the Casa Rosada press corps as a necessary security measure after they accused a local TV channel of espionage for using smart glasses to film parts of the headquarters without authorization.
The channel, Todo Noticias, insists it received official permission to capture the footage and that the images of corridors and meeting spaces aired in the TV segment have long been accessible to the public.
After condemnation poured in from business chambers, the Catholic Church and politicians across the spectrum, Milei’s Cabinet chief announced the decision to reverse the ban. But Manuel Adorni said the government would revise rules for credentialed journalists in the Casa Rosada to address its security concerns.
“There will definitely be changes,” Adorni told a Buenos Aires radio station last week, without specifying the new provisions.
Milei, at odds with the press to a degree unseen since the 1983 restoration of Argentine democracy, has escalated his media-bashing in recent weeks as his flagship campaigns against corruption and inflation falter.
Nearly every day, he posts the slogan “We don’t hate journalists enough" on social media. As he entered Congress last Tuesday to support Adorni in his defense against allegations of illicit enrichment, Milei hurled insults at the journalists peppering him with questions about the scandal.
“You're the corrupt ones,” he shouted.
Argentina's President Javier Milei, left, and his sister, General Secretary of the Presidency Karina Milei, arrive to Congress to attend a session in which Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni will present his report to the Chamber of Deputies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Journalists stand outside of the Casa Rosada government headquarters after President Javier Milei blocked their access, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
U.S. forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began.
Two American-flagged merchant ships have “successfully transited” through the critical waterway, the U.S. military said. Separately, the U.S. military denied Iran’s claims that it struck an American Navy vessel southeast of the strait.
Iran handed over its latest proposal for negotiations with the U.S. to mediators in Pakistan, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday. Trump subsequently said he’s “not satisfied” with it, but did not elaborate on the proposal’s apparent shortcomings. The shaky ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has lasted for three weeks.
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European leaders on Monday said President Trump’s snap decision to pull thousands of U.S. troops out of Germany came as a surprise but is a fresh sign that Europe must take care of its own security.
The Pentagon announced last week that it would pull some 5,000 troops out of Germany, but Trump told reporters Saturday that “we’re going to cut way down. And we’re cutting a lot further than 5,000.”
He offered no reason for the move, which blindsided NATO, but his decision came amid an escalating dispute with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and Trump’s anger over European allies’ reluctance to get involved in the conflict in the Middle East.
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The U.S. stock market is holding tentatively near its record heights Monday, while oil prices climb with uncertainty about when oil tankers can resume crossing the Strait of Hormuz and restore the world’s flow of crude. Dueling claims about a possible Iranian strike on a U.S. Navy vessel in the strait heightened the tensions.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 216 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.1%.
The action was stronger in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude climbed 2% to $110.37 and briefly topped $114 during the morning. Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to its war with the United States has kept oil tankers pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide. That in turn has sent the price of Brent soaring from roughly $70 per barrel before the war.
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Rubio will travel to Rome and Vatican City this week in a bid to ease rising tensions between the Trump administration and Pope Leo over U.S. policies, particularly with Iran.
The State Department said Monday that Rubio, a devout Catholic who’s visited Rome and the Vatican at least three times since becoming Trump’s top diplomat, would be in Italy on Thursday and Friday.
“Secretary Rubio will meet with Holy See leadership to discuss the situation in the Middle East and mutual interests in the Western Hemisphere” the department said. “Meetings with Italian counterparts will be focused on shared security interests and strategic alignment.”
The trip comes as Trump has criticized Pope Leo, the first American pontiff, for his stances on the Middle East and elsewhere and posting social media images likening Trump to Jesus Christ.
The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.
Trump has promised to bring down gas prices as he faces midterm elections this year.
The U.S. has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions for paying Iran for transit of the strait. It has enacted a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling 49 commercial ships to turn back, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy.
U.S. officials have expressed hope the blockade forces Iran back to the negotiation table.
The U.S. military said Monday that two American-flagged merchant ships had successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz and Navy guided-missile destroyers in the Persian Gulf were helping to restore shipping traffic. It separately denied Iran’s claims to have struck an American Navy vessel.
The announcement came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new initiative to help guide ships through the critical waterway for global energy. Iran has effectively closed the strait since the U.S. and Israel started the war Feb. 28, rattling the global economy.
The U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it set up an “enhanced security area.” U.S. Central Command didn’t say when the Navy ships arrived or when the merchant vessels departed.
It was unclear whether shipping companies, and their insurers, will feel comfortable taking the risk given that Iran has fired on ships in the waterway and vowed to keep doing so.
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President Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. step off from Marine One upon their arrival on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump walks from Marine One to board Air Force One at Ocala International Airport, in Ocala Fla., Friday, May 1, 2026, after speaking at an event in The Villages, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
President Donald Trump steps off from Marine One upon his arrival at the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, May 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
