White House Rejects Court Order Requiring It To Allow Associated Press Access to Oval Office, Press Pools

The battle between President Trump and the reporters who cover him is raging anew, with one news organization claiming it is being bullied after it was barred from the Oval Office and the administration insisting that no one gets “guaranteed access” — regardless of what the federal courts say.On Monday, a reporter and a photographer from the Associated Press were again blocked from an Oval Office press event, despite a recent federal injunction requiring the White House to grant access to the news agency. “We expect the White House to restore AP’s participation in the [White House press] pool as of today, as provided in the injunction order,” AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said. Those expectations have been dashed.Mr. Trump banned the AP after the wire service refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” following an Executive Order issued by the president early in his second tenure. The AP sued three administration officials, claiming the White House has violated the Constitution’s free press protections by trying to control the language the AP uses.A federal judge last week ruled that Mr. Trump could not ban the AP from presidential events, saying, “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.”The White House formally objected to the ruling over the weekend. “No other news organization in the United States receives the level of guaranteed access previously bestowed upon the AP,” the administration argued. “The AP may have grown accustomed to its favored status, but the Constitution does not require that such status endure in perpetuity.”In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ordered the White House to reinstate the AP’s full access, effective April 8. The judge’s injunction declared that the government “cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech” and ordered the immediate reversal of access restrictions. Judge McFadden rejected Mr. Trump’s request for more delay in implementing the ruling, which prompted the White House appeal. While the AP has been banned, its reporters and photographers nevertheless often show up at events to try to gain access.Meanwhile, the White House Correspondents’ Association claims the White House is selectively withholding press pool reports — dispatches written by a reporter covering an event in a small area, like the Oval Office or Air Force One — from distribution to the wider press corps. “This is a perfect example of why the White House Correspondents’ Association for years has provided independent delivery of pool reports,” WHCA president Eugene Daniels told one news outlet. “It’s critical that journalists who cover the presidency — and the Americans who rely on their coverage to stay informed — get unfiltered information free from government control.”Mr. Trump has made clear that there’s no love lost with the press. He plans to skip the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 26, as he did all four years of his first term.

White House Rejects Court Order Requiring It To Allow Associated Press Access to Oval Office, Press Pools

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