American judge lifts the limitations of the White House with Associated Press

An American judge ordered the Trump government to restore the access of the Associated Press to presidential events after the White House had blocked the agency in a dispute about the term “Gulf of America”.

District judge Trevor McFadden said on Tuesday that the limitation of the administration on AP journalists “is contrary to the first amendment”, which guarantees freedom of expression.

The dispute arose when the AP refused to take over the repetition of the government of the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” ​​in his cover, after an executive order by President Donald Trump.

The prohibition led the AP to have no access to press events at the White House and Air Force One.

Judge McFadden, who was appointed by Trump during his first term, also paused the execution of the ruling Until Sunday to let the lawyers of the administration appeal to time.

“The court simply states that under the first amendment, when the government opens its doors for some journalists – albeit for the Oval Office, the East Room or elsewhere – it cannot then close those doors to other journalists because of their views,” he wrote in his statement. “The Constitution does not require any less.”

The AP had argued that the administration has violated its constitutional right to freedom of expression by limiting access due to disagreements about the language of the agency.

In February, Judge McFadden had refused to recover his access to presidential events immediately.

After Tuesday’s ruling, AP spokesperson Lauren Easton said that the agency was “satisfied by the decision of the court”.

“Today’s ruling confirms the fundamental law of the press and the public to speak freely without retribution from the government. This is a freedom that is guaranteed for all Americans in the American Constitution,” she said in a statement.

The ruling was also welcomed by other organizations that had criticized the first restrictions on the AP.

“This is a careful, well-reasoned opinion that describes the exclusion of the associated press of the perspool in the right way as a retaliation, point of view-based and unconstitutional,” said Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

The AP has sued three senior civil servants from Trump Administration – Pers Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Staff Chef Susie Wiles and deputy Staff Chef Taylor Budowich – claim that the limitations were illegal and infringe on freedom of press.

The Trump government argued that the Associated Press was not entitled to “special access” to the president.

Shortly after his appointment in January, the Trump administration issued an executive order in which the Gulf of Mexico was renamed the “Gulf of America”, a movement that the White House said, reflects the status of the Gulf as “an indelible part of America”.

The AP said it would continue to use the term Golf of Mexico, while it was the efforts of the Trump government to recognize it.

In response, the White House limited the access of AP to events that fall under the “Pool” of journalists who report to other media.