WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday called The Associated Press’ exclusion from White House events “contrary to the First Amendment” and ordered the Trump administration to treat the newswire as it would any other media publication.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ordered the administration to "put the AP on an equal playing field as similarly situated outlets, despite the AP’s use of disfavored terminology."
The Associated Press filed a lawsuit in February after it was excluded from White House events and Trump’s travels over its refusal to change references of the Gulf of Mexico to Trump’s preferred “Gulf of America” in its coverage.
AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said that the newswire was "gratified by the court’s decision."
"Today’s ruling affirms the fundamental right of the press and public to speak freely without government retaliation," Easton said in a statement. "This is a freedom guaranteed for all Americans in the U.S. Constitution."
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
In his order, the judge shot down the administration's argument that the AP’s request for media access to such events is a “demand for extra special access.”
“That is not what the AP is asking for, and it is not what the Court orders. All the AP wants, and all it gets, is a level playing field,” McFadden wrote.
The judge went on to say that his ruling means 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.”
He also said that his order is on pause through Sunday to allow the Trump administration to seek intervention by an appeals court.
“Defendants may pursue their favored litigation tactics, but the Court must address the merits of the relief requested,” McFadden said.
The dispute stems from an executive order Trump signed in January that renamed the Gulf of Mexico, which has borders in both the U.S. and Mexico, as the “Gulf of America.”
The AP had responded to the order in its style guidance, which said it would refer to the body of water “by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.”
In response to Tuesday's court ruling, White House Correspondents’ Association President Eugene Daniels said that the group’s board “applauds today’s decision supporting our country’s foundational ideal that the government should not be able to control the independent media that covers it.”
“We are thrilled Associated Press reporters, photographers and video journalists are to be allowed back into presidential events from which they had been banned by the administration just for using words the White House did not like,” Daniels said in his statement.
Gary Grumbach reported from Washington, Zoë Richards reported from New York.
