President Trump celebrated a federal appeals court’s ruling that allows the White House, for now, to restrict The Associated Press (AP) from the Oval Office and other limited spaces when reporting on the commander-in-chief.
“Big WIN over AP today,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!!”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia temporarily blocked, in a 2-1 decision on Friday, an early April order from a district court judge that allowed the AP to regain its access to key White House spaces.
The ruling blocked an April 8 order by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden that found that the news wire’s exclusion from the press pool, a small cadre of reporters reporting on the president’s whereabouts, was unlawful.
“The White House is likely to succeed on the merits because these restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora opened for private speech and discussion,” Judge Neomi Rao said in the Friday opinion, joined by Judge Gregory Katsas.
AP’s spokesperson Patrick Maks said the organization is “disappointed in the court’s decision and are reviewing our options.”
The White House’s decision to exclude the AP originated from the news wire not wanting to use Gulf of America in its industry stylebook.
The three-judge panel did not halt the part of McFadden’s April order that provides AP access to the East Room.
Judge Cornelia Pillard said in her dissent that being able to be in the press pool never relied on the news outlet’s viewpoint until this year.
“The panel’s stay of the preliminary injunction cannot be squared with longstanding First Amendment precedent, multiple generations of White House practice and tradition, or any sensible understanding of the role of a free press in our constitutional democracy,” Pillard wrote.
Days after McFadden ruled in favor of AP in April, the White House removed a spot in the press pool normally occupied by wire services.
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