The Associated Press is continuing its fight against the White House after a federal judge ordered that the wire service be given full access to cover presidential events.
An AP reporter on Tuesday was allowed into an executive branch event for the first time in two months. That came a week after U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden ruled the government can’t retaliate against the wire service’s decision not to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order naming the Gulf of America, formerly the Gulf of Mexico.
However, that access apparently did not appease the AP, which went to court Wednesday morning to request “the court’s immediate assistance in enforcing” the judge’s injunction order, Deadline reported.
Although the AP reporter was included among the reporters to cover an East Room event, an AP reporter and photographer were barred from covering an Oval Office press conference on Monday as part of the press pool.
“The administration’s actions continue to disregard the fundamental American freedom to speak without government control or retaliation,” AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said Tuesday night.
The White House on Tuesday announced a new media policy, by which wire services including AP, Reuters, and Bloomberg News no longer will hold a permanent slot in the small pool of reporters who cover Trump.
The pool typically consists of around 10 outlets that follow the president wherever he goes, whether it is a meeting in the Oval Office where he makes statements or answers questions or on Air Force One during trips at home or abroad.
Under the new policy, wire services will be part of a larger rotation with about 30 other newspaper and print outlets.
“This new policy declares, in clear violation of the court’s injunction order, that ‘[t]he president retains absolute discretion over access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other comparably sensitive spaces,'” the AP’s attorneys wrote in their court filing.
In late February, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the administration will take direct control of the composition of the daily press pool, which formerly was handled by the White House Correspondents’ Association.
“It’s beyond time that the White House press operation reflects the media habits of the American people in 2025, not 1925. A select group of D.C.-based journalists should no longer have a monopoly over the privilege of press access at the White House,” Leavitt said at a press briefing.
The White House is appealing McFadden’s ruling.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
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