On Friday, a federal judge granted preliminary approval to a new press policy from the White House that reclassifies The Associated Press (AP) to the same level as traditional newspapers, thereby removing its previously enhanced access to the president.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, appointed by Trump and who had previously determined that the White House had unlawfully discriminated against AP for refusing to use the term “Gulf of America,” stated that the updated policy seems to be neutral regarding viewpoints.
“I don’t see any issues with it,” McFadden remarked during the hearing on Friday.
The revised policy places AP reporters, along with those from Bloomberg and Reuters, on equal standing with newspaper journalists from outlets such as The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Under these new guidelines, AP photographers will also be granted the same status as their counterparts. Consequently, AP reporters will now be part of the rotating pool of journalists covering the president’s daily engagements. With numerous outlets in this rotation, AP will have special access less frequently, approximately once a month, similar to that of the newspapers.
According to Charles Tobin, the attorney for AP, the wire service’s first scheduled opportunity under the new arrangement is this weekend, coinciding with a day when the president is expected to play golf. “Not exactly a moment in history,” Tobin expressed in court, as reported by the Washington Times. McFadden responded by emphasizing that the White House is not obligated to provide AP with “first-in-line, every time” access that it previously enjoyed.
The in-town press pool allows journalists to attend the president’s public events in the Oval Office and throughout Washington, while a separate rotating travel pool accompanies the president on journeys aboard Air Force One.
These pools are intended to facilitate media access and enable participating reporters to disseminate their coverage to other news organizations, as noted in the Times report.
For many years, the Associated Press maintained permanent access.Earlier this month, Judge McFadden determined that while the White House possesses extensive authority over press access, it breached the Constitution by penalizing the Associated Press (AP) for its editorial position. According to the Times, “His injunction took effect on Monday, and just two days later, the White House enacted its new policy,” with the AP asserting that this policy was specifically designed to retaliate against the wire service.
Tobin criticized this move as indicative of “gamesmanship” and an effort “to undermine the AP’s access to the pool.”
He remarked, “Demoting us to a lesser status is a punitive measure,” referring to the wire service’s new classification as equivalent to that of newspapers.
Judge McFadden noted that as long as the Associated Press is treated equally to the other two wire services—Bloomberg and Reuters—that previously enjoyed special access, there is no indication of discrimination. He stated that since all three have been assigned the same status as newspapers, the policy does not seem to present any legal issues.
He also reprimanded the AP for hastily seeking judicial intervention just days after the new policy was put into effect. In February, McFadden had initially refused to grant a temporary restraining order against the administration for prohibiting the AP, while acknowledging the urgency of the situation.
Despite his ruling, McFadden cautioned that existing legal precedents do not support the administration’s effort to restrict the Associated Press’s access to the press pool solely because it declines to adopt the new designation “Gulf of America.”
He further advised that the White House may need to reconsider its policies, which currently afford the White House Correspondents’ Association significant latitude in overseeing press access for the broader media community.
