Washington — The Associated Press said its reporters were prevented from attending an Oval Office event with President Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele even though a federal judge had ordered the White House to restore the news outlet’s access as of Monday.
An AP spokesperson said in a statement that its “journalists were blocked from the Oval Office” on Monday despite the order requiring the White House to rescind its restrictions on the AP’s access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and other places where space is limited when they’re open to other members of the White House press pool.
The AP also reported that one of its reporters was not allowed to attend an event on the South Lawn of the White House recognizing the Ohio State University’s championship football team that was open to credentialed media, though two AP photographers were permitted to cover it.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled last week that the White House cannot deny AP journalists access to spaces made available to the pool or events open to all credentialed members of the White House press corps because of its refusal to use the name Gulf of America in its Stylebook and reporting. McFadden, who was appointed to the federal bench by Mr. Trump in his first term, put his order on hold until Monday.
The Trump administration has appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. A panel of three judges is set to consider Thursday whether to grant the administration’s request to pause the district court’s decision — which would reinstate the restrictions on the AP — while it considers the appeal.
The AP spokesperson said in the statement that the outlet expects “the White House to restore AP’s participation in the pool as of [Monday], as provided in the injunction order.” The White House did not return a request for comment.
The AP, which says its news reporting reaches roughly 4 billion people daily, filed its lawsuit against three senior White House officials after it was informed in February that it would no longer be allowed in places like the Oval Office and on Air Force One as part of the press pool until the AP revised its influential Stylebook to use the name Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico.
The Stylebook is a writing and editing guide that is used by newspapers, magazines and other media outlets throughout the country. It covers a wide range of topics, from abbreviations of state names to describing ages to jargon used in different sports.
In addition to being denied admittance to the press pool, AP reporters have also been turned away from larger events open to the broader White House press corps, the outlet said in court papers.
Mr. Trump signed an executive order renaming the body of water in January. But the AP said it would not update its Stylebook, which is used in newsrooms worldwide, to reflect the change because the president’s directive only carries authority within the U.S. The AP said that as an international news agency, it “must ensure that places, names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”
McFadden last week said that the White House likely violated the First Amendment when it excluded the AP from press events because of its refusal to change the Gulf of Mexico’s name in its Stylebook.
The judge stressed that he is not ordering the Trump administration to grant the AP permanent access to the Oval Office, East Room or other media events, and noted that the AP is not entitled to the permanent press pool access it previously enjoyed.
But McFadden wrote that the AP “cannot be treated worse than its peer wire services either. The court merely declares that the AP’s exclusion has been contrary to the First Amendment, and it enjoins the government from continuing down that unlawful path.”
“The AP seeks restored eligibility for admission to the press pool and limited-access press events, untainted by an impermissible viewpoint-based exclusion,” he wrote. “That is all the court orders today: For the government to put the AP on an equal playing field as similarly situated outlets, despite the AP’s use of disfavored terminology.”
As a news wire service, the AP is a regular participant in the White House press pool, which is a group of rotating reporters, videographers and photographers who cover the president daily and travel with him when he leaves the White House grounds.
One iteration of the press pool, which attends most White House events in the Oval Office and other small spaces, has 21 members. The smallest iteration, which travels with the president aboard Air Force One, has 13 members. The AP typically had two of the 13 core spots in the press pool.
While the White House Correspondents’ Association historically oversaw the composition of the pool, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced in February that the White House would choose which credentialed journalists would make up the press pool.
