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Appeals Court Lets Trump Bar AP From Restricted White House Spaces

The ruling pauses a lower court order by deeming restricted presidential venues private workspaces outside First Amendment forum protections.

FILE - The Associated Press logo is displayed at the news organization's world headquarters in New York on April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Jackson, File)
AP attorney Charles Tobin, center left, talks with AP White House correspondent Zeke Miller, center with back to camera, and AP chief Washington photographer Evan Vucci, center right, outside the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse following a hearing on The Associated Press' lawsuit against the Trump administration to restore access to presidential events on March 27 in Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump, right, meets Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he departs the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 6, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Overview

  • In a 2-1 decision the D.C. Circuit granted a stay of Judge Trevor McFadden’s April ruling and allowed the administration to exclude AP journalists from the Oval Office, Air Force One and other limited areas.
  • Judges Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas held that spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One are not traditional public forums and therefore fall outside First Amendment safeguards.
  • The court did not pause McFadden’s directive restoring the AP’s access to larger venues like the East Room.
  • The AP sued in February after the White House removed its permanent press pool slot when the agency refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
  • AP officials said they will press on with their lawsuit and that the ultimate decision could set significant precedent on presidential control over press access.