The president made certain to share his “Big WIN” against the “FAKE NEWS” Friday with regard to pushing back on corporate media’s questionable coverage.
After President Donald Trump announced his decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, the Associated Press quickly found out the administration wouldn’t trifle with the style decision to disregard the change. Instead, he barred the AP’s access to presidential spaces, prompting a legal fight that scored “VICTORY!” for the administration from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
In a 2-1 decision issued Friday, Judge Neomi Rao was joined by Judge Gregory Katsas in temporarily halting U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden’s April 8 decision, thus maintaining the White House decision to keep the Associated Press out of the Oval Office, Air Force One, and Mar-a-Lago.
“Big WIN over AP today. They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!!” wrote Trump on Truth Social.
Rao’s ruling stated, “The White House is likely to succeed on the merits because these restricted presidential spaces are not First Amendment fora opened for private speech and discussion.”
“The White House therefore retains discretion to determine, including on the basis of viewpoint, which journalists will be admitted,” she added as it was argued McFadden’s injunction “impinges on the President’s independence and control over his private workspaces” and thus would result in irreparable harm.
However, McFadden’s order was left intact regarding the AP’s access to the East Room and dissenting Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote, “The panel’s stay of the preliminary injunction cannot be squared with longstanding First Amendment precedent, multiple generations of White House practice and tradition, or any sensible understanding of the role of a free press in our constitutional democracy.”
As had been reported when the AP initially took its stand against referring to the body of water by its new official name, the organization’s claim that its “Stylebook doesn’t align with any particular agenda” remained readily challenged as examples of “weaponized language” included choosing to capitalize the “b” in black and not the “w” in white when discussing race, holding fast to gender ideologists’ perversion of basic grammar and refusing to use the term ‘illegal immigrant.’
Reacting to the ruling, AP spokesperson Patrick Maks said, “We are disappointed in the court’s decision and are reviewing our options.”
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cheered, “VICTORY! As we’ve said all along, the Associated Press is not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in other sensitive locations. Thousands of other journalists have never been afforded the opportunity to cover the President in these privileged spaces.”
“Moving forward, we will continue to expand access to new media so that more people can cover the most transparent President in American history rather than just the failing legacy media,” she said before adding, “And by the way @AP, it’s still the Gulf of America.”
VICTORY!
As we’ve said all along, the Associated Press is not guaranteed special access to cover President Trump in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and in other sensitive locations.
Thousands of other journalists have never been afforded the opportunity to cover the… https://t.co/rML8rgYuQh pic.twitter.com/7OWByTMf0x
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) June 6, 2025
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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