NonilexNov 24

Arguments in the #AssociatedPress case against the #Trump admin [Associated Press v. Budowich] are set to continue on Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. At stake is whether the president is entitled to curate the crew of reporters who cover official events in the Oval Office. Can he boot those whose work he doesn’t like?

#law #FirstAmendment #FreePress #FourthEstate #journalism
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/business/media/associated-press-president-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Trump Welcomes A.P.’s Photographers. Its Reporters? Not So Much.

The White House now has conflicting approaches for Associated Press journalists as it fights the news service in court over access to presidential events.

The New York Times
Show threadNonilexNov 24

In April, a US District Court judge ruled in The #AssociatedPress’s favor & issued a preliminary injunction rescinding the access denial. But the #Trump admin appealed to the US Court of Appeals, which put enforcement of that injunction on pause 2 months later. (It allowed the injunction to remain in force for events in the East Room.) While the hearing before a new appeals court panel is scheduled for Monday, it is unclear when the court will issue a ruling.

#law #FirstAmendment #FreePress

Show threadNonilexNov 24

#AP & #Trump admin argue #access case before federal appeals court; no ruling yet

#AssociatedPress & the Trump admin renewed their argument Monday over a president’s ability to limit #media access to #journalists he disagrees with, resuming a courtroom dispute with potential #FirstAmendment implications that began last winter when Trump announced that he had renamed the Gulf of Mexico.

#law #Constitution #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate
https://apnews.com/article/ap-trump-media-access-pool-gulf-mexico-america-9a6667aae9743032c51c42c5e4f7dedc

AP and Trump administration argue access case before federal appeals court

The Associated Press and the Trump administration renewed their argument over a president’s ability to limit media access to journalists he disagrees with. They resumed a courtroom dispute with potential First Amendment implications that began last winter when the president announced that he had renamed the Gulf of Mexico. Trump restricted the AP’s access to events in smaller spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One, leading the news outlet to sue. A lower federal court ruled that President Donald Trump improperly retaliated against the outlet because it did not follow and refer to the body of water as the Gulf of America. Now it's on appeal. No immediate ruling was issued.

AP News
Show threadNonilexNov 24

#Trump restricted the #AP’s access to events in smaller spaces like the Oval Office & Air Force One, leading the news outlet to sue. A lower federal court ruled that Trump improperly retaliated against the outlet because it did not follow & refer to the body of water as the Gulf of America.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate

Show threadNonilexNov 24

The U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington prevented the ruling from taking effect — effectively leaving it up to the #Trump White House to determine the #AP’s access — & a 3-judge panel from that court heard arguments Monday on an appeal of the lower court’s ruling.

No immediate ruling was issued.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate

Show threadNonilexNov 24

The #Trump admin says it is up the White House to determine the makeup of “pools” that cover the president in places where space is limited. And he can reward or punish reporters with #access in these cases in the same way he does in granting interviews, Trump’s team argued.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate

Show threadNonilex

The #AP says that if #journalists are invited to cover an event on a pool basis — such as last week when #Trump had meetings in the Oval Office with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince & New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani — it cannot #discriminate on the basis of a news organization’s #FreedomOfSpeech.

“The First Amendment does not stop at the Oval Office door,” said Charles Tobin, the attorney representing the AP.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate

Nov 24 at 9:22pmWeb
Show threadNonilexNov 24

Tobin argued the White House has hurt the AP’s business with its new policy; for years, #AP #journalists had been virtually always included in these pool events.

But in its brief supporting its own position, the #Trump admin said that “to the extent that the AP built a business model that depended on the assumption that it would maintain this favored-nation status in perpetuity, that is hardly the government’s fault.”

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate

Show threadNonilexNov 24

The #AP reports & produces for thousands of news outlets & other organizations around the world.

Tobin made his argument before 4 judges who illustrated that the AP faces an uphill battle in this fight, despite the lower court ruling. 2 of them…are #Trump appointees who voted against the AP as part of a separate appellate panel last spring. And they expressed skepticism Monday about how a rule could be put in place that satisfies the outlet’s concerns.

#law #Constitution #FirstAmendment

Show threadNonilexNov 24

“You would eventually need an injunction against the president for this to work, don’t you,” Judge Rao, one of the #Trump appointed judges, asked him. It’s extremely rare for a judge to issue an injunction against a president; they generally act against people who work for the chief executive.

“How would we decide what’s a ‘pool’ event & an individual journalist’s event?” Rao asked.

#law #AP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate

Show threadNonilexNov 24

Yaakov Roth, the principal deputy assistant attorney general arguing for the #Trump admin, also wondered about rules put in place limiting a president’s ability to invite people to see him at the White House. “Nobody is going to come up here & say that the president has to invite equal numbers of Republicans & Democrats to the White House Christmas party,” he said. [False equivalency. Party guests are not equivalent to journalists at press conferences]

#law #AP #FirstAmendment #FreePress

Show threadNonilexNov 24

Roth was questioned by the third judge on the panel, Robert Wilkins, who asked if the admin could bar a group of citizens from Kansas who had bought tickets to tour the White House if a #Trump appointee discovered one of them had posted something on social media critical of the president.

“Woe to the public,” said Wilkins, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

#law #AP #Constitution #FirstAmendment #FreePress #journalism #FourthEstate

Show threadNonilexNov 24

Julie Pace, AP’s exec editor, wrote in an op-ed piece Monday morning that the question of #access is not just about #AP; it’s about people’s access to the govt…

“When we talk about press freedom, we are really talking about your freedom. Reporters ask questions, photographers take pictures, & video journalists record history on your behalf to ensure that you are informed about the things you don’t have the time to unearth, watch or learn about for yourself,” Pace wrote.

https://apnews.com/article/associated-press-free-speech-white-house-a1d29b0efc3dc2c0176c7be2471f2a3b

Why AP is standing for your right to speak freely

The executive editor of The Associated Press says the news organization is fighting for the right of the press and public to speak freely without being targeted by the government. AP is back in court Monday in its case against the White House. The case challenges the government's decision to block AP from covering presidential events because of the news organization's style on what to call the Gulf of Mexico, which the administration calls the Gulf of America. Julie Pace says in an opinion published by AP that the case could have wider implications for freedom of speech. She points to recent government decisions taking action against other journalists because it doesn't like their reporting. She says it is AP’s duty to stand up when fundamental freedoms are at stake.

AP News
Show threadBamNov 24
@Nonilex I think we all know Rao isn’t asking the question because she is willing to grant one.