A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of President Donald Trump in a case involving press access to the White House. The decision is a victory for Trump in a broader, years-long battle between the administration and mainstream media outlets.
The Associated Press sued the administration for revoking its access to the Oval Office and Air Force One. The AP claimed the move was made in retaliation for its refusal to call the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America,” and that it infringed on its First Amendment protections.
However, the appeals court ruled that press access to certain White House areas is a “privilege,” not a right.
“The First Amendment does not control the president’s discretion in choosing with whom to speak or to whom to provide special access,” the three-judge panel wrote in its ruling. “The White House therefore retains discretion to determine, including on the basis of viewpoint, which journalists will be admitted.”
Trump celebrated the ruling on Truth Social.
“Big WIN over AP today,” Trump wrote. “They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!!”
In April, Judge Trevor McFadden ordered the White House to allow the AP into spaces made available to other members of the White House press pool. In his ruling, McFadden wrote that the AP had been wrongly singled out.
Media reacts: Control or accountability?
The appeals court decision has triggered contrasting reactions in the press, following long-standing ideological lines.
Left-leaning outlets called Trump’s initial removal of the AP from the press pool a troubling move to silence dissent and intimidate journalists.
“He wants nothing short of complete obedience and for everyone to say they love him, praise him, and tell him he’s the best president ever,” former MSNBC host Joy Reid said about Trump and the media.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow described Trump’s strategy as part of the “[Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orbán playbook” to weaken independent journalism, saying Trump wants to use “the power of government to eliminate independent, credible, professional journalism.“
Conversely, right-leaning media defended Trump’s ban on the AP and suggested he is right to take action against legacy media, calling it “dead” due to a lack of trust.
“Legacy media is dead,” Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld said. “Put a tag on their toe, call Quincy, shove the body in a fridge because the corpse is starting to reek.”
“President Trump was right about the fake news press,” NewsMax host Chris Salcedo said. “President Trump has been telling the truth about the majority of the biased press for years now.”
Public trust in media low, and partisan
Americans’ trust in the media remains at historic lows. Gallup’s latest polling shows just 31% of the public has a great deal or a fair amount of trust in news media. Pew Research also reports stark partisan divides: Democrats are far more likely to trust national media outlets than Republicans.
The Pew Study also found that in today’s media environment, consumers often gravitate toward outlets that match their political views. Most major networks — including ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR and PBS — are rated as having a left-leaning bias by media watchdogs. The same is true of large publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and the AP.
Media litigation that’s far from over
The AP case is just one of several legal showdowns between Trump and media organizations:
- ABC News paid a $15 million settlement to Trump last year in a defamation lawsuit, after anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely stated Trump had been found liable for rape.
- Trump is suing the Des Moines Register and pollster Ann Selzer, claiming fraud over a missed poll result by 16 points just days before the 2024 election. This case is still playing out in federal court.
- Trump is suing the Pulitzer Prize Board, seeking to revoke awards given to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their reporting on alleged Trump-Russia collusion. A judge ruled last week that the case can proceed after the Board attempted to put the case on pause.
- NPR is suing Trump in response to an executive order freezing federal funding to public broadcasters. This litigation is also ongoing.
The media choosing a side and narrative
The underlying facts in these legal battles remain consistent — but how they’re framed depends heavily on the outlet. Left-leaning media describe Trump’s litigation as retribution and suppression of dissent. Right-leaning media present it as long-overdue accountability for a biased press corps.
