US President Donald Trump won a temporary legal victory allowing him to continue restricting media access to certain spaces such as the Oval Office and Air Force One. A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, has upheld an earlier ruling that enables White House officials to exclude the Associated Press (AP) from the rotating pool of journalists covering the president’s day-to-day activities, at least while the broader legal battle continues.The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, on Tuesday, declined to overturn a previous decision that permitted the White House to limit AP’s participation, as per Bloomberg. The case remains ongoing, but the court’s move is seen as a win for Trump and his senior aides, who have long pushed for greater control over which media outlets get access to him. The appeals court, which currently has a majority of judges appointed by Democratic presidents, did not record any dissents from its 11 active judges, signalling an uphill battle for AP in case it choose to escalate the case to the US Supreme Court. That court holds a conservative majority, which may be less inclined to side with the press. “We are disappointed by today’s procedural decision but remain focused on the strong district court opinion in support of free speech as we have our case heard,” said AP spokesperson Lauren Easton.“The press and the public have a fundamental right to speak freely without government retaliation. We look forward to continuing to produce strong, factual and nonpartisan coverage of the administration.” In contrast, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields welcomed the ruling, sharply criticising the news agency. “AP’s outrageous, self-absorbed actions are an embarrassment to journalism” and that “the Trump administration is the most accessible and transparent in history.” The AP filed its lawsuit in February after the White House press office began restricting access for its reporters and photographers. The administration claimed the agency was being excluded because it had refused to adopt President Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” a change AP did not reflect in its widely used style guide. In April, a federal district judge in Washington ordered the White House to reinstate the AP’s place in the press pool. However, that order was largely blocked in June by a three-judge panel of the DC Circuit, although the AP retained access to the White House’s East Room, which is typically open to a broader press group. The AP had requested a full review of the panel’s decision by all active judges of the appeals court, but Tuesday’s order left the panel’s ruling largely intact.
