Judge Declines To Order White House To Immediately Restore AP’s Access To Events After Trump’s “Gulf Of America” Ban

deadline.com:

A federal judge declined to order the White House to immediately restore the Associated Press‘ access to the Oval Office and various White House events, after Donald Trump restricted the news organization as punishment for failing to change references of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the AP had not met the threshold for a temporary restraining order, but he did set the case on a expedited schedule, vowing that he would keep an “open mind” about the issues at hand. “As things stand now, I don’t think a [temporary restraining order] is appropriate,” he said.

But McFadden, a Trump appointee in his first term, also warned White House officials that case law over press access does not weigh in their favor, while suggesting that they may want to consider changes to its policy against the news outlet.

During 90 minutes of oral argument, McFadden said at one point that he found the White House rationale for excluding the AP as “problematic” as it was based on the news service’s content.