WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump can bar The Associated Press from some White House media events for now, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, pausing a lower court order to give access to the US news agency’s journalists.
AP journalists and photographers have been barred from the Oval Office and from traveling on Air Force One since mid-February because of the news agency’s decision to continue referring to the “Gulf of Mexico” -- and not the “Gulf of America” as decreed by Trump.
In April, district court judge Trevor McFadden deemed that move a violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press.
But on Friday, a panel of judges with the Washington-based federal appeals court ruled that, pending appeal, the government could go ahead and bar AP from “restricted presidential spaces,“ which it said did not fall under First Amendment protections.
“The White House therefore retains discretion to determine, including on the basis of viewpoint, which journalists will be admitted,“ the ruling said.
“Moreover, without a stay, the government will suffer irreparable harm because the injunction impinges on the President’s independence and control over his private workspaces,“ it said.
The AP, a 180-year-old organization that has long been a pillar of US journalism, has so far refused to backtrack on its decision to continue referring to the “Gulf of Mexico.”
In its style guide, it highlights that the Gulf of Mexico has “carried that name for more than 400 years” and the agency “will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.”
Trump has long had an antagonistic relationship with most mainstream news media, previously describing them as the “enemy of the people.”
Since his return to the presidency in January, his administration has sought to radically restructure the way the White House is covered, notably by favoring conservative podcasters and influencers.
Two weeks after barring the AP, the White House stripped journalists of the nearly century-old power to decide which of the profession’s own number will be members of a pool of reporters and photographers covering presidential events.
His administration has also pressed to dismantle US government-funded overseas outlets Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Radio Free Asia, and is seeking to starve National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) of federal funds.
