The Newswire service was being kicked out after refusing to use the name “American Bay.”
US District Judge Trevor McFadden on April 8 determined that President Donald Trump’s administration could not rule out the Associated Press New Wire Services (AP) from White House press on the basis of his refusal to use the name “American Gulf” in place of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Associated Press sued some of the Trump administration and press staff after losing their place in the pool from 13 exclusive members who have access to the president in places such as an oval office.
McFadden decided that he violated the AP’s initial right to amend by kicking them out of the pool on February 11 after refusing to update a style guide that reflects Trump’s order, which renamed waters adjacent to the southern US.
On February 25, the White House announced that the press team would determine who is eligible for press pool access and would strip the White House Press Correspondents of that privilege.
The AP defended itself by saying it was an international outlet and that most of the world still uses the term “Gulf of Mexico.”
The White House has argued in court that it restricts access to events that were generally open to most other media outlets.
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McFadden discovered that APs are in fact “excluded from large events much more often than their peers,” but sometimes they have journalists from one of their photographers and overseas branches.
He also said that the AP has been “bleeding” money over the past two months as the quality of its reporting and photography has declined due to loss of access and customers have turned to other outlets.
However, the judge did not directly order the White House to grant the Associated Press to “permanent access to an oval office, East Room, or other media events,” but narrowly determined that the location in the press pool must be restored and the media outlet must be treated the same as anyone else.
“No, the court cannot simply close the door to other journalists under the First Amendment if the government has opened the door to some journalists, if it opens it to an oval office, an East Room or elsewhere, simply to view it.
“The Constitution needs more than that.”
