White House finds a clever way to box out the AP

A federal judge granted the Associated Press an injunction on April 8, preventing the Trump administration from excluding the liberal publication from press events at the White House.

The ruling, which an attorney for the government suggested "constitutes an unprecedented intrusion into Executive authority," was celebrated by the liberal publication and others antagonistic of the Trump White House.

The AP and its allies were premature in their celebration.

The White House apparently found a way to minimize its encounters with the AP without running afoul of the injunction.

Days after appealing the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the White House changed its policy for the press pool, abolishing the news wire service seat and replacing it with a second print reporter seat.

Previously, the AP shared a guaranteed rotating spot with Reuters and Bloomberg. The three outfits have now been dropped into a much larger group of print media organizations eligible for inclusion in the pool.

The New York Post, which was first to report the changes, indicated that the reassignment of the three wires expands the White House print rotation from 31 to 34 spots and "dramatically" decreases opportunities for each wire service.

'The Court does not order the Government to grant the AP permanent access to the Oval Office, the East Room, or any other media event.'

The White House's new policy eliminating the wire spot states that:

• "outlets will be eligible for participation in the Pool, irrespective of the substantive viewpoint expressed by an outlet";
• "eligible outlets will be chosen for the White House Press Pool on a rotating basis";
• "wire-based outlets will be eligible for selection as part of the Pool's daily print-journalist rotation";
• "the White House Press Secretary shall retain day-to-day discretion to determine composition of the pool"; and
• "the President retains absolute discretion over access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other comparable sensitive spaces."

"The makeup of the pool is far more reflective of the media habits of the American people in 2025," a senior White House official told the New York Post. "The White House press policy continues to be grounded in fairness for all outlets that wish to cover the White House."

U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden noted in his ruling last week that the AP must be put "on an equal playing field as similarly situated outlets, despite the AP's use of disfavored terminology."

"The Court does not order the Government to grant the AP permanent access to the Oval Office, the East Room, or any other media event," continued McFadden. "It does not bestow special treatment upon the AP. Indeed, the AP is not necessarily entitled to the 'first in line every time' permanent press pool access it enjoyed under the [White House Correspondents' Association]. But it cannot be treated worse than its peer wire services."

The new policy appears to satisfy McFadden's requirement since it deprives all of the wire services of their coveted spot.

Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for the AP, said in a statement, "The administration's actions continue to disregard the fundamental American freedom to speak without government control or retaliation."

"For decades, the daily presence of the wire services in the press pool has ensured that investors and voters across the United States and around the world can rely on accurate real-time reporting on what the president says and does," said Bloomberg editor in chief John Micklethwait, who was similarly upset over the apparent checkmate. "We deeply regret the decision to remove that permanent level of scrutiny and accountability."

WHCA president Eugene Daniels of MSNBC bemoaned the shake-up in a statement Tuesday night, suggesting the three liberal publications were somehow owed their traditional spots.

"The changes to the press pool today show that the White House is just using a new means to do the same thing: retaliate against news organizations for coverage the White House doesn't like," said Daniels. "The Associated Press, Bloomberg News and Reuters play an integral role in coverage of the presidency and should be allowed their traditional spots in the pool."

The AP filed a court motion Wednesday claiming the White House's press pool shake-up was a violation of McFadden's injunction. The liberal publication asked the judge to enforce his preliminary injunction.

The court has ordered the parties to appear for a hearing on April 18.

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