A federal judge ordered the White House to restore the Associated Press’ ability to cover President Donald Trump at the White House, on Air Force One and in restricted areas open to other media outlets, citing the First Amendment.
US District Judge Trevor McFadden on Tuesday entered an injunction requiring the White House to rescind decisions denying the AP access to areas historically covered by a small, rotating pool of media outlets and events broadly open to credentialed journalists. McFadden delayed his order taking effect until April 13 to allow the Justice Department a chance to appeal.
The White House press office started limiting the access of AP reporters and photographers in February after the wire service updated its widely-adopted style guide to continue using the term “Gulf of Mexico” while also referring to Trump’s executive order renaming the body of water “Gulf of America.”
“The court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” McFadden wrote. “The Constitution requires no less.”
The judge wrote that the White House is still allowed to restrict the media’s access to Trump in a variety of situations — such as deciding who can sit down with the president for one-on-one interviews — but that it couldn’t single out one outlet to exclude based on its editorial choices when its peers are allowed in.
A spokesperson for the AP and a White House representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The AP’s lawyers argued that the new restrictions on its access violated an interest that courts had historically said that the media has in covering the president without giving notice or an opportunity to object. They alleged constitutional violations of the outlet’s due process rights as well as retaliation over its speech under the First Amendment.
The Justice Department countered that the AP still had access to the main briefing room and other areas open to an array of journalists, but that it didn’t have the same right to restricted areas like the Oval Office.
McFadden, who was appointed to the federal court in Washington by Trump during his first term, previously had denied the AP’s request for an immediate, temporary order restoring its access. At the time, he found that the wire service hadn’t shown that it would suffer “irreparable harm” to its ability to continue covering Trump.
The case is Associated Press v. Budowich, 25-cv-532, US District Court, District of Columbia.