The White House said on Friday it temporarily suspended a press aide after he reportedly threatened a reporter who was working on a story about his romantic relationship with another journalist.

Vanity Fair reported on Friday that White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo had made threats — including “I will destroy you” — to a Politico correspondent who was reporting a piece about Ducklo’s recently disclosed relationship with an Axios reporter, Alexi McCammond.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote on Twitter that Ducklo had been suspended for a week without pay and will not work with Politico reporters again.

Psaki said Ducklo had apologised to the Politico reporter, Tara Palmeri, “with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life. ... He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behaviour set out by the President”.

The suspension comes after Democratic President Joe Biden, who took office last month, vowed to take a hard line on any incivility among members of his administration. “If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot.”