President Trump can bar the Associated Press from the Oval Office and other spaces he wishes to deny access to — at least for the time being — a federal appeals court ruled on Friday, overturning a lower court’s decision.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled 2-1 in the president’s favor in his ongoing legal battle with the AP. The outlet has claimed President Trump’s push to restrict its access violates its First Amendment rights, which the lower court agreed with in April; the appeals court on Friday overturned that decision.
“We grant in part the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal,” Judge Gregory Katsas and Judge Neomi Rao wrote in their decision. “The White House is likely to succeed on the merits because these restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora opened for private speech and discussion.”
The judges added the Trump Administration “retains discretion to determine, including on the basis of viewpoint,” which outlets and reporters are admitted to the White House.
“Moreover, without a stay, the government will suffer irreparable harm because the injunction impinges on the president’s independence and control over this private workspaces,” the judges added.
Friday’s ruling is the latest turn in the Trump-AP feud, which started over the outlet’s refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America,”after the president signed an executive order renaming the gulf on government documents.
The AP has argued the Trump Administration’s decision will “chip away” at the Constitutional rights of the outlet and all Americans if it holds and has sued several members of the Trump Administration to overturn the decision.
In April, D.C. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sided with the AP, granting its request for an injunction against its restrict access; McFadden said the Trump Administration must “immediately rescind the denial of AP’s access.”
“The Court simply holds that 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,” McFadden said in his ruling. “The Constitution requires no less.”
The Trump Administration, in response, took control of the White House press pool — a move the AP said was an attempt to circumvent the district court’s ruling.
Following the latest decision on Friday evening, a spokesperson for the AP told TheWrap “we are disappointed in the court’s decision and are reviewing our options.”
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