AP seeks First Amendment relief to sue three Trump officials after losing access to presidential events

The Associated Press (AP) filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, against three senior Trump administration officials.

The officials are Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The news agency accuses them of violating the First Amendment by restricting its journalists' access to presidential events.

In the legal document, the agency argues that the exclusion is "a targeted attack on the AP’s editorial independence" and its ability to inform the public, violating "the very core of the First Amendment."

For those reasons, the AP is asking the court to issue an immediate injunction to stop the restriction.

"The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government," the lawsuit argues.

For his part, President Donald Trump at a conference Tuesday said of AP, “We’re going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it’s the Gulf of America."

The development came after the White House limited AP's access to the Oval Office and Air Force One for refusing to adopt the term "Gulf of America" mandated by President Donald Trump.

Trump, on his first day of his second term signed an executive order directing the Interior Department to officially change the name of the Gulf of Mexico, to "Gulf of America."

This change was quickly adopted by companies such as Google, but met with resistance from news outlets such as the AP. The news agency opted to keep the term "Gulf of Mexico" in its style guide, arguing that the new name has not been recognized internationally, especially by Mexico, and that much of the gulf is outside U.S. jurisdiction.

In response, the White House removed the "privilege" of AP journalists' access to events in the Oval Office, the Diplomatic Reception Room and Air Force One, spaces established for certain media.

For his part, Taylor Budowich endorsed the Republican administration's decision in a post on X, stating that AP's refusal to accept the change was "divisive" and reflected a "commitment to misinformation."

Karoline Leavitt, reinforced this position, stating that "it is a fact that the body of water is now called the Gulf of America," while Susan Wiles, endorsed the exclusion as a way to open up space for other journalists.