A federal judge on Monday denied the Associated Press’ emergency request to have its indefinite ban from the Oval Office rescinded, a decision that will allow the Trump Administration to continue barring the outlet from the president’s press conferences.
The AP was first banned on Feb. 11 over its decision to continue using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” rather than “Gulf of America,” following President Trump’s recent executive order renaming the gulf on government maps and contracts. Last Friday, the AP sued three members of the Trump Administration over the ban, arguing its First and Fifth Amendment rights were being violated.
“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” the AP said in its lawsuit. “The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American’s freedom.”
Trump Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has pushed back on the AP’s claim that its free speech rights have been violated by the ban, saying it is a “privilege” to cover the White House.
“Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions,” Leavitt said on Feb. 12. “That is an invitation that is given.”
President Trump’s attorneys made the same argument in a court filing on Monday morning, saying “the president has absolute discretion to give interviews to whomever he pleases — the First Amendment does not compel him to give a personal audience to any particular journalist.”
On Monday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden declined the AP’s request to have its ban temporarily lifted, saying the outlet had failed to show it was facing “irreparable harm” due to it. Judge McFadden, who was appointed by President Trump during his first term in 2017, scheduled a hearing for March 20 to hear further arguments over the ban.
Judge McFadden said the White House press team’s decision to ban the AP was “problematic,” and he noted the White House Correspondents’ Association typically decides who gets access to such events. But he said the Trump Administration’s discretion over access, while possibly flawed, did not warrant an emergency order overturning the ban. He also said the AP can continue to “get access to the same information” from pool notes, even if it is barred from the Oval Office and other press conferences.
“We look forward to our next hearing on March 20 where we will continue to stand for the right of the press and the public to speak freely without government retaliation,” AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said following the judge’s ruling. “This is a fundamental American freedom.”
