Last week, a federal judge told the White House it had to stop banning Associated Press journalists from covering presidential events—yet just days later, the AP is still being shut out.
Judge Trevor McFadden in Washington, DC, issued the ruling after the AP sued the White House for blocking its reporters from events over something as simple as using the term “Gulf of Mexico” in their stories. The White House had allegedly taken issue with that phrase and, starting February 11, began excluding AP journalists from the official press pool.
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Calling the White House’s actions unconstitutional, the judge said they violated the First Amendment and caused “significant, concrete harms.” He temporarily lifted the ban while the lawsuit moves forward, staying the ruling for five days to give the administration time to appeal. That stay expired on Sunday.
But on Monday, the AP was still excluded.
“Our journalists were blocked from the Oval Office today,” said AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton after reporters tried to cover President Trump’s meeting with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and were turned away. “We expect the White House to restore AP’s participation in the pool as of today, as provided in the injunction order.”
While AP photographers were allowed to cover a separate afternoon event with the Ohio State University football team on the South Lawn, a print reporter was still denied access.
Despite the ruling, the White House has continued to push back. It filed an appeal to a higher court—the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit—asking for the injunction to be paused again while the full case is argued. So far, the appeals court hasn’t granted the request, but on Thursday, both sides will get 15 minutes to present their case to a three-judge panel.
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In a letter to the court, the Trump administration argued that the judge’s order is too much of an intrusion, writing, “As of this morning, the President of the United States is subject to an order imposing terms on which he must admit individuals to the Oval Office and other restricted spaces.”
The AP fired back in a letter of its own, calling the White House’s continued exclusion “viewpoint discrimination.” Their lawyers argued that while the government wouldn’t be harmed by following the judge’s order, the AP would face “irreparable harm” if it’s not allowed equal access to presidential coverage.
Judge McFadden had made it clear that the government isn’t required to admit specific journalists to every event, but that decisions must be fair and not based on political or editorial viewpoints. “All the AP wants, and all it gets, is a level playing field,” he wrote.
So far, though, the field still doesn’t look very level.
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