A federal judge has sided with the Trump administration after the Associated Press filed a lawsuit to demand access to the White House.
In early February, President Donald Trump banned the Associated Press from White House access after the outlet refused to accept that he changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America.” The Associated Press’ guidelines are the standard for most news outlets, meaning that whatever terms they deem correct will continue to be used, despite their inaccuracies.
Despite the left and the mainstream media fully embracing Democrats’ decisions to change the names of military bases and former President Barack Obama’s decision to change the name of Mount McKinley, Democrats have lost their minds over Trump’s decision — absurdly claiming that he did not have the authority to change the name to Gulf of America. The Associated Press appeared to agree with the left’s meltdown, and announced that they would keep the name “Gulf of Mexico” in their guidelines.
This prompted anger from the Trump administration, ultimately leading to Trump’s decision to ban the Associated Press from the White House.
“While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich said in a statement on X.
https://twitter.com/Taylor47/status/1890453490398326919
The outlet filed a lawsuit, claiming that it was doing so to “vindicate its rights to the editorial independence guaranteed by the United States Constitution.”
Unfortunately for the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden has decided to deny the outlet’s request for a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration’s decision. McFadden, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, declared in his ruling that the Associated Press is able to “get access to the same information” using press pool coverage that it would obtain from attending each White House event directly — and thus has no need for the temporary order.
The judge also noted that he has not been convinced that the Associated Press faced any “irreparable harm” from the ban, adding that the outlet was only being blocked from “more private areas,” like Air Force One and the Oval Office.
The Trump administration has celebrated the victory in a White House press release.
“As we have said from the beginning, asking the President of the United States questions in the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One is a privilege granted to journalists, not a legal right,” the statement read, adding: “We stand by our decision to hold the Fake News accountable for their lies, and President Trump will continue to grant an unprecedented level of access to the press. This is the most transparent Administration in history.”
https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1894147560844951862
McFadden has scheduled an official hearing in the case for March 20, where a final decision will be made as to whether the restriction should remain in place in the long-term.
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