Judge declines WH request to delay reinstatement of Associated Press' access to key areas

A federal judge on Friday rejected the Trump administration's request to delay the lifting of its ban on Associated Press (AP) reporters accessing special areas of the White House.

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden on Tuesday ruled that the White House's ban violated the First Amendment, because it was directly punishing a publication for its editorial decisions. The AP was banned after it refused to change its style guide to rename the Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America.

The Justice Department asked for an administrative stay on the order earlier this week while it appeals McFadden's ruling, and argued that President Donald Trump should be allowed to determine who is in private places like Mar-a-Lago, the Oval Office and Air Force One.

McFadden responded that the government did not show that "it is likely to succeed on the merits," and that the "intimate spaces" argument did not apply to those locations because the president frequently has pool reporters in the Oval Office, and his space on Air Force One is separate from reporters, per Deadline.

For Mar-a-Lago, the judge wrote that there are public spaces at the resort where Trump has hosted reporters before. 

The White House will now be required to reinstate the Associated Press' access by April 13.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.