


The Associated Press says that a new White House media policy violates a court order by giving the administration sole discretion over who gets to question President Donald Trump, and the news agency asked a federal judge on Wednesday to enforce that order.
The swift move was in response to a policy issued late Tuesday by the White House, which suffered a courtroom loss last week over The Associated Press’ ability to cover Trump. The plans, the latest attempt by the new administration to control coverage of its activities, sharply curtail the access of three news agencies that serve billions of readers around the world.
The AP filed Wednesday’s motion with U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, asking for relief “given defendant’s refusal to obey” his order last week. McFadden said the White House had violated the AP’s free speech by banning it from certain presidential events because Trump disagreed with the outlet’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Wednesday. Leavitt is a defendant in the AP’s lawsuit, along with White House chief of staff Susan Wiles and her deputy, Taylor Budowich.
The AP’s lawsuit claimed that its First Amendment rights were violated by the White House blocking its reporters and photographers from covering Trump. McFadden ordered the administration to treat the AP as it does other news organizations.
For many years, the independent White House Correspondents Association has run the pool for the limited space events, and each time it has included reporters from the wire services AP, Reuters and Bloomberg. One print reporter was also allowed, selected on a rotating basis from more than 30 news outlets.
The White House now says it will lump the three wire services with print reporters for two slots — meaning roughly three dozen reporters will rotate for two regular slots. Wire services typically report and write stories that are used by different media outlets around the world.
Even with the rotation, the White House said Trump’s press secretary “shall retain day-to-day discretion to determine composition of the pool.” The new policy says reporters will also be allowed in “irrespective of the substantive viewpoint expressed by an outlet.”
Seeing their own access cut back along with the AP’s, representatives from Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters also protested the new policy.
“For decades, the daily presence of the wire services in the press pool has ensured that investors and voters across the United States and around the world can rely on accurate real-time reporting on what the president says and does,” said Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait. “We deeply regret the decision to remove that permanent level of scrutiny and accountability.”
In a statement, the AP’s Lauren Easton said the outlet was deeply disappointed that rather than restore the AP’s access, the White House instead chose restrictions over all of the wire services.
“The wire services represent thousands of news organizations across the U.S. and the world over,” said Easton, an AP spokeswoman. “Our coverage is used by local newspapers and television stations in all 50 states to inform their communities.
“The administration’s actions continue to disregard the fundamental American freedom to speak without government control or retaliation,” Easton said Tuesday night.
The WHCA said the administration’s insistence on retaining control over who covers the president shows that it is unwilling to guarantee that it would not continue viewpoint discrimination. “The government should not be able to control the independent media that covers it,” said Eugene Daniels, the association’s president.