The White House is urging federal agencies not to renew their subscriptions to The New York Times and The Washington Post after President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE said earlier in the week he didn't want either newspaper in the White House.

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"Not renewing subscriptions across all federal agencies will be a significant cost saving for taxpayers - hundreds of thousands of dollars," press secretary Stephanie Grisham Stephanie GrishamIvana Trump on Melania as first lady: 'She's very quiet, and she really doesn't go to too many places' The Hill's 12:30 Report: Trump uses White House as campaign backdrop Coronavirus tests not required for all Melania Trump speech attendees: report MORE said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

The move marks an escalation of the White House's battle with the media, and with The New York Times and Washington Post in particular. The two news outlets have been among the leaders in reporting on controversies inside the administration, and Trump regularly attacks both on Twitter.

The president has decried the Times as "the enemy of the people" and the Post as a lobbying arm of Amazon in reference to its owner, Jeff Bezos Jeffrey (Jeff) Preston BezosTwitter mandates lawmakers, journalists to beef up passwords heading into election Hillicon Valley: DOJ indicts Chinese, Malaysian hackers accused of targeting over 100 organizations | GOP senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal | QAnon awareness jumps in new poll Amazon planning small delivery hubs in suburbs MORE. Trump has also singled out specific reporters from each outlet on Twitter.

Trump in an interview broadcast Monday night told Sean Hannity Sean Patrick HannityFormer Florida attorney general calls Kyle Rittenhouse 'a little boy out there trying to protect his community' Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Cruz: Trump should nominate a Supreme Court justice next week MORE of Fox News that the White House would "probably terminate [The New York Times] and The Washington Post.”

Grisham later confirmed that the White House had canceled its subscriptions, and neither publication was among a stack of papers in the press office on Thursday morning.

Federal employees can use their government email address to get a free digital subscriptions to the Post.

Morgan Chalfant contributed