The news agency was barred from the press pool over a dispute over how the Gulf of Mexico is named
A federal judge has ordered the White House to restore access for the Associated Press to presidential events. The news agency was kicked out of the press pool for refusing to adopt the term “Gulf of America” for what has traditionally been known as the Gulf of Mexico.
Reporters from AP, one of the world’s oldest, were barred from Air Force One and the Oval Office after in February the agency declined to use “Gulf of America,” the name designated by US President Donald Trump for the body of water bordering the southeastern coast of North America. It opted to stick with the traditional term Gulf of Mexico, arguing that it is well established and recognized across the globe.
Trump himself has lashed out at the AP, branding it “a radical left organization.” In response to the ban, the agency filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that the exclusion violated First Amendment protections of press freedom.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich has argued that while the agency’s right to “dishonest reporting” is protected by law, it does not have a “privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces” where certain presidential events take place.
On Tuesday, US District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled in favor of the AP, stating that the government cannot exclude journalists from presidential events based on their editorial decisions. The White House has until the end of the week to appeal the order.
In his ruling, McFadden stressed that the court does not order the government to grant the AP permanent access to presidential events and “does not bestow special treatment” upon the agency.
“The AP is not necessarily entitled to the ‘first in line every time’ permanent press pool access it enjoyed… But it cannot be treated worse than its peer wire service either,” he said, noting that the order does not impose any rules on government officials about who they give interviews to or whose questions to take.
AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton welcomed the decision, noting that the ruling “affirms the fundamental right of the press and public to speak freely without government retaliation.” Meanwhile, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace wrote in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal that the lawsuit was much bigger than a dispute over a body of water. “It’s really about whether the government can control what you say,” she said.
