Judge says White House can’t ban AP from Oval Office, Air Force One

A federal judge on Tuesday ruled that the White House cannot bar Associated Press reporters and photographers from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other secure spaces where journalists from other media outlets are admitted.

District Court Judge Trevor McFadden in an order said that the White House’s current blocking access to AP journalists to those tightly controlled spaces with President Donald Trump is “contrary to the First Amendment” of the U.S. Constitution.

McFadden, who was appointed to the bench by Trump, stayed his order requiring the White House to restore access from taking effect until Sunday, to give the White House time to appeal his ruling in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

The White House had “sharply curtailed” the wire service’s access to media events with Trump in mid-February after the president renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and the AP did not reflect that change in its references to that body of water, McFadden noted in his ruling

The AP’s stylebook is widely used by media outlets, including CNBC.

“The Court does not order the Government to grant the AP permanent access to the Oval Office, the East Room, or any other media event,” wrote the judge.

“It does not bestow special treatment upon the AP. Indeed, the AP is not necessarily entitled to the ‘first in line every time’ permanent press pool access it enjoyed under the WHCA [White House Correspondents’ Association],” the judge wrote.

“The Court simply holds 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,” McFadden wrote.

“The Constitution requires no less.”

The 179-year-old wire service has long had its reporters and photographers be part of the small and highly select press pool of journalists who attend most White House events in the Oval Office and other small spaces, as well as travel with the president.

The AP had sued to regain its longstanding access to tightly controlled spaces in the White House and Air Force One after the ban was imposed.

Julie Pace, the AP’s executive editor, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published March 26, “For anyone who thinks The Associated Press’ lawsuit against President Trump’s White House is about the name of a body of water, think bigger.”

“It’s really about whether the government can control what you say,” Pace wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on McFadden’s ruling.

 AP spokesperson Lauren Easton, in a statement, said, “We are 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. “This is a freedom guaranteed for all Americans in the U.S. Constitution.”

“We look forward to continuing to provide factual, nonpartisan and independent coverage of the White House for billions of people around the world,” she said.