By Andrew Goudsward
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s White House intends to challenge a judge’s ruling lifting the restrictions it imposed on the Associated Press over the news agency’s reference to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage, the administration told the court on Wednesday.
It has continued denying access to AP journalists as it fights Tuesday’s decision by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ordering the White House to allow AP journalists to attend events open to the press in the Oval Office and on Air Force One as well as larger spaces in the White House while its lawsuit moves forward.
McFadden found Trump’s White House retaliated against the AP over its editorial choices, violating protections for free speech under the U.S. Constitution. He put his order on hold until Sunday to give the White House time to appeal.
The White House began limiting AP’s access to several events that featured Trump after the news agency said it would continue using the name Gulf of Mexico while acknowledging Trump’s order to change the name of the body of water to the Gulf of America.
The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years and, as a global news agency, the AP will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.
The AP sued three senior Trump aides in February, alleging the restrictions were an attempt to coerce the press into using the administration’s preferred language. The lawsuit alleged the restrictions violated protections under the U.S. Constitution for free speech and due process, since the AP was unable to challenge the ban.
Lawyers for the Trump administration have argued the AP does not have a right to what the White House has called special access to the president.
AP journalists were barred from the group of White House reporters, known as the “press pool,” that covers events in the Oval Office and travels with the president.
The White House in February took charge of deciding which media outlets are part of the press pool. Reuters, which has issued a statement in support of the AP, has historically been a permanent member of the pool and now has a rotating spot for wire services.
The AP has also been blocked from attending larger events in the White House that were open to other reporters with White House press credentials, according to the news agency’s complaint.
The AP, formed in 1846, says on its website that it operates from nearly 250 locations in nearly 100 countries. Its journalists provide news to customers worldwide in text, photos, graphics and video.
The move has been criticized by several press freedom groups and the White House Correspondents’ Association.
Most news organizations, including Reuters, call it the Gulf of Mexico and where relevant include the context about Trump’s executive order.
(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)
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