AP and Trump administration argue access case before federal appeals court; no ruling yet

The Associated Press and the Trump administration renewed their argument over a president’s ability to limit media access to journalists he disagrees with.

The Associated Press logo is displayed at the news organization’s world headquarters in New York on April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Jackson, File)

The Associated Press and the Trump administration renewed their argument over a president’s ability to limit media access to journalists he disagrees with.

The Associated Press logo is displayed at the news organization’s world headquarters in New York on April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Jackson, File)

The Associated Press logo is displayed at the news organization’s world headquarters in New York on April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Jackson, File)

FROM AP: OpEd: Executive Editor Julie Pace on why AP is standing for your right to speak freely.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Associated Press and the Trump administration renewed their argument Monday over a president’s ability to limit media access to journalists he disagrees with, resuming a courtroom dispute with potential First Amendment implications that began last winter when the president announced that he had renamed the Gulf of Mexico.

President Donald Trump restricted the AP’s access to events in smaller spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One, leading the news outlet to sue. A lower federal court ruled that Trump improperly retaliated against the outlet because it did not follow and refer to the body of water as the Gulf of America.

The U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington prevented the ruling from taking effect — effectively leaving it up to the White House to determine the AP’s access. A three-judge panel from that court, two of them Trump appointees who voted against AP as part of a separate appellate panel last spring, heard arguments Monday on an appeal of the lower court’s ruling.

The administration says it is up the White House to determine the makeup of “pools” that cover the president in places where space is limited. And he can reward or punish reporters with access in these cases in the same way he does in granting interviews, Trump’s team argued.