The Associated Press (AP) sued three White House officials on Friday. The lawsuit followed the news agency’s exclusion from President Donald Trump’s events. AP filed the lawsuit in a Washington federal court. The news agency argued that restricting access violated the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech and the press.
The White House began blocking Associated Press journalists from the Oval Office ten days ago. The move came after AP refused to follow Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
AP Reporters Also Barred from Air Force One
Later, the White House extended the ban to Air Force One. AP stated that it sued the three Trump officials to “vindicate its rights to the editorial independence guaranteed by the United States Constitution.”
“The White House has ordered The Associated Press to use certain words in its coverage or else face an indefinite denial of access,” AP said.
“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 statement added. “The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American’s freedom.”
White House Officials Named in Lawsuit
The suit names White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as defendants.
Leavitt responded at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday. “We’ll see them in court,” she said. “We feel we are in the right. We are going to ensure that truth and accuracy is present at that White House every single day.”
AP Defends Its Editorial Independence
In its style guide, AP stated that the Gulf of Mexico has “carried that name for more than 400 years.” The agency affirmed, “The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.”
“As a global news agency that disseminates news worldwide, AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”
Trump Calls AP a “Radical Left Organization”
Trump attacked AP on Thursday. He called it a “radical left organization” and defended the new Gulf of America name. “It’s something that we feel strongly about,” he said.
Trump’s restrictions on press access reflect his ongoing hostility toward traditional news outlets. He frequently accuses them of bias against him.
The White House Correspondents’ Association condemned AP’s exclusion from Trump events, calling it “outrageous.”
The Associated Press, a 180-year-old news agency, is a cornerstone of US journalism. It provides news to print, TV, and radio outlets across the country and around the world.
