A federal judge has ruled that the White House's ban on The Associated Press (AP) violated the First Amendment of the United States.
The ban came 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.
US District Judge Trevor N McFadden ordered the White House to restore AP's full access to cover presidential events, stating that the government cannot punish the news organisation for the content of its speech.
The judge, who was an appointee of US President Donald Trump, ruled that the government can't retaliate against AP's decision not to follow the president's executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
The decision is just a preliminary injunction but it has given the AP a victory at a time the White House has been challenging the press on several levels.
The ban on AP saw their journalists removed from the group to cover Mr Trump in the Oval Office or aboard Air Force One.
"Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints," Judge McFadden wrote.
"The Constitution requires no less."
What is the First Amendment?
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees fundamental freedoms, including freedom of religion, speech, the press, and assembly.
It also includes the right to petition the government.
Officially, it states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
What was reason for AP ban?
On February 9, Donald Trump signed an executive order that renamed the Gulf of Mexico, to the Gulf of America.
But to be clear, that executive order was only internally in the US. It had no power to change the name around the world.
AP said at the time that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years and, as a global news agency, it will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name President Trump has chosen.
Mr Trump then made the decision to ban AP from the Oval Office and Air Force One and said "we're going to keep them out until such time as they agree it's the Gulf of America."
He had previously referred to the AP as a group of "radical left lunatics."
Different outlets have used different approaches to referring to the Gulf of Mexico, some skirting it by calling it the "Gulf."
"For anyone who thinks The Associated Press' lawsuit against President Trump's White House is about the name of a body of water, think bigger," Julie Pace, the AP's executive editor, wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
"It's really about whether the government can control what you say."
Were any other outlets banned?
No.
But President Trump has moved aggressively against the media on several fronts since taking office for a second time.
And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has accused legacy media outlets in the US of publishing fake news.
"We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, and we will not accept that," she said.
The Federal Communications Commission currently has open lawsuits against ABC, CBS and NBC News.
It is a government agency that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable in all 50 states.
Back to AP, the lawyer representing Mr Trump's officials said in the hearing that AP had not been entirely shut out.
Brian Hudak said the White House had the authority to keep AP journalists from the president's personal and work spaces.
He also accused the agency, in its editorial choices, of "refusing to adhere to what the president believes is the law of the United States."
Testimony shows AP coverage was impeded
Two AP journalists, Zeke Miller, the agency's chief White House correspondent, and Evan Vucci, its chief Washington photographer testified to the court.
They both told the court that the restrictions had hampered the AP's ability to cover Mr Trump.
"We're basically dead in the water on major stories," testified Mr Vucci, the photographer behind the now-iconic image of the president pumping his fist after a 2024 assassination attempt.
Mr Miller said he had noticed a "softening of the tone and tenor of the questions that some reporters are asking of the president."
AP's lawyer, Charles Tobin, said that the news agency had lost a $US150,000 ($250,000) advertising contract from a client concerned about the ban.
The government's lawyer showed how AP has been able to use live streams or photos from other agencies to get news out.
Judge McFadden said in his verdict that "the government offers no other plausible explanation for its treatment of the AP."
ABC/AP
