A federal judge heard arguments today on whether to restore the Associated Press‘ access to various White House events, after Donald Trump restricted the news organization as punishment for failing to change references of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The AP sued Trump administration officials on Friday, more than a week after the White House first started cutting off access to the wire service from pool duty of Trump’s comments in the Oval Office, as well as other events and travel on Air Force One. A White House filing today made clear that it was Trump that ordered the AP to be frozen out of such events.
Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, considered whether to grant a temporary restraining order prohibiting the White House from barring the AP from Oval Office access and other events. He has yet to issue a ruling.
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On his first day in office, Trump issued an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. In its style guidance, the AP said that it would retain the name Gulf of Mexico, noting that it was an international body of water and that other countries had not yet recognized the name change.
In its brief filed today, the White House’s legal team said that it was up to the president who decided who got “special access” to such events, just as it would be Trump’s prerogative who to grant an interview.
At the hearing though, Charles Tobin, attorney for the AP, said that by inviting reporters to cover the Oval Office as part of a pool, or to larger events in the East Room, it triggered a “liberty interest” on the part of the media organization. Such an interest prohibits arbitrary exclusion of an outlet based on their content. He also argued that the White House failed to give its reporters due process, as it informed them of the punishment after the decision was made.
“All access to the White House is special,” Tobin said. “Once you let people in, it becomes a different analysis.”
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