Judge denies Associated Press's most recent request to restore White House access

A federal judge has denied the Associated Press's request for the courts to further direct the White House to restore the news outlet's access to President Donald Trump and certain spaces. 

The decision was made Friday by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.

The judge issued an injunction earlier this month stating the White House was not allowed to limit access to the president over disagreements regarding the outlet’s refusal to comply with Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico, according to the Washington Examiner.

Although that injunction went into effect on April 14, the White House announced changes to the presidential press pool the following day that effectively continued to limit the AP’s access by eliminating the wire service's spot altogether. 

However, after hearing arguments from the outlet and the Justice Department on Friday, McFadden disagreed with the AP’s position that the administration’s latest policy, which eliminates a permanent slot for all wire services but makes them eligible for selection as part of the pool’s daily print journalist rotation, violated the terms of his injunction, The Examiner also reported. 

The judge said the White House reserves the right to set such policies as long as they don’t discriminate against a particular outlet.