Appeals Court Allows Trump to Bar Associated Press

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled 2-1 on June 6, 2025, to grant Donald Trump a stay in the enforcement of a lower-court ruling, allowing his administration to continue restricting the Associated Press (AP) from certain White House events. The decision pauses a previous order by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who had ruled in April that the ban violated the First Amendment.

The legal conflict began in February 2025 after the AP refused to adopt the administration's preferred term "Gulf of America" for the Gulf of Mexico. In response, the administration barred AP reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and Mar-a-Lago, while expanding access for conservative outlets and seizing control of the daily press pool rotation from the White House Correspondents' Association.

Writing for the majority, Judge Neomi Rao stated that restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora and that the president retains discretion over who is admitted, including on the basis of viewpoint. Judge Cornelia T.L. Pillard dissented, arguing that excluding journalists based on viewpoint undermines the role of a free press and could lead to a press corps that hesitates to publish content disliked by the administration.

President Trump celebrated the ruling as a "big WIN," and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asserted that the AP is not guaranteed special access. The Associated Press has since requested a rehearing by the full appellate court, arguing that the decision allows the White House to retaliate over words it does not like.