A federal judge has rejected a request by a prominent US agency to access the White House.
A federal judge on Monday rejected an appeal by the Associated Press (AP) to lift the White House's ban on access , without ruling on the merits of the case. The ban even extends to the presidential plane, where news agencies have long had a permanent seat.
The White House began restricting access to reporters from the renowned US agency two weeks ago due to the agency's decision to continue using the name "Gulf of Mexico" despite Trump's order to rename this maritime zone as "Gulf of America."
AP has subsequently filed a lawsuit against three White House officials in Washington, claiming that the exclusion of its journalists violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees a free press and freedom of speech .
On Monday, Trump-appointed Judge Trevor McFadden denied the agency's request to immediately restore its full access to all White House events. He also asked the agencies to parties to present written arguments and set a resolution hearing for March 20.
According to AFP, the appeal filed by the news agency alleges that “the Constitution does not allow the government to control the free press.” “The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not suffer reprisals from the government,” it adds in another paragraph.
AP is targeting White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles , Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich , and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt .
Lawyers for the officials said in a court motion that the case is not about barring the AP from attending press briefings or using White House press facilities. “Most journalists do not have routine access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, or the presidential residence at Mar-a-Lago. At his discretion, the President decides who has special media access to exclusive events,” they said in front of Judge McFadden.
Before his inauguration on January 20, Trump announced plans to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of the United States,” signing an executive order to that effect as soon as he took office . Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum responded sarcastically, and others noted that the name change would likely not affect global usage.
Google Maps started using “Gulf of the United States” on the grounds that it had a “long-standing practice” of following government guidelines on such matters. The other leading online map provider, Apple Maps, still uses “Gulf of Mexico.”
AP, for its part, said it would continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by that name. As a global news agency, it stresses that it must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences. In its style manual, AP notes that the name Gulf of Mexico has been used for “more than 400 years” and emphasizes that it “will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name chosen by Trump.”
With information from AFP
lanacion
