Ap Sues Trump Officials After Being Barred From Some White House Events

The Associated Press is suing three Trump administration officials after being barred from some White House events and spaces, citing a violation of First and Fifth Amendment rights.

The lawsuit — filed in federal district court in Washington — comes after over a week of the White House punishing the AP for not changing its guidelines on the Gulf of Mexico — which President Donald Trump renamed the “Gulf of America.”

The AP has been shut out from covering Trump in the Oval Office, on Air Force One and at other White House events. The complaint names White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government,” the AP says in the lawsuit. “Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American’s freedom.”

The feud between the wire service and the Trump administration started when the AP announced it would not use “Gulf of America.” The reason for that, a top editor wrote, was because as a global news organization read around the world, its language needs to be “easily recognizable.” In its guidance, the AP said it would continue to use Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging the new name from Trump’s executive order.

The White House started to punish the AP last week for that decision, blocking the wire service from accessing limited spaces — including the Oval Office and Air Force One — as part of the traditional press pool, along with other press events.

“We are gonna keep them out until such time that they agree that it’s the Gulf of America,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. Leavitt and Budowich have echoed this statement, with Leavitt saying in a press conference that AP has to recognize the law and Budowich saying the AP is committed to “misinformation.”

The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment about the lawsuit.

The AP argued in court filings that the ban violates the due process rights enshrined in the Fifth Amendment, saying the punishment was doled out with “no prior or written notice of, and no formal opportunity to challenge, [this] arbitrary determination.” The wire also argued it violated press protections in the First Amendment.

AP reporters and photographers still have access to the White House. But they’ve been kicked out of the press pool, which allows a smaller group of journalists to cover the president in events that have limited space — like in the Oval Office — or when he travels, including on Air Force One. Zeke Miller, the AP’s chief White House correspondent, also wrote in court filings that AP journalists have been barred from events with broader access than just the pool.

Several journalism organizations, including the White House Correspondents Association, have denounced the ban and called on the Trump administration to reverse course.

“The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech,” the AP’s attorneys wrote.