U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled on Tuesday afternoon that President Donald Trump and his administration had to allow The Associated Press access to White House spaces following a weeks-long ban over the outlet’s refusal to refer to the Gulf of America by its new name in print.
McFadden, who was appointed by President Trump, argued that the First Amendment applied and that if other credentialed outlets were given access to space in the White House or aboard Air Force One, then the administration could not selectively bar The Associated Press over a difference of opinion.
BREAKING: Associated Press wins preliminary injunction against White House in "Gulf of America" case: pic.twitter.com/Hjw3t5AMXk
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Acknowledging the fact that limited space would not always allow for every outlet to have a physical presence at every event, McFadden stated in his ruling that this judgment was not a free pass for The Associated Press to have access to every possible event.
“This injunction does not limit the various permissible reasons the Government may have for excluding journalists from limited-access events. It does not mandate that all eligible journalists, or indeed any journalists at all, be given access to the President or nonpublic government spaces. It does not prohibit government officials from freely choosing which journalists to sit down with for interviews or which ones’ questions they answer. And it certainly does not prevent senior officials from publicly expressing their own views,” McFadden wrote.
“No, the Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less,” he added.
The ruling is set to go into effect on April 13, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.
