In February, the Trump White House effectively barred the Associated Press from most media events as part of a dispute over the president's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

A district court ruled in April to block the White House ban against the AP, but a circuit court appellate panel just imposed a stay on most of the lower court's preliminary injunction, Politico reported.

President Donald Trump and other White House officials were quick to celebrate the legal victory that will allow them to continue to exclude AP reporters and photographers from certain nonpublic areas that aren't generally open to all members of the media.

District court's injunction stayed

After the AP made a big deal of not playing along with President Trump's renaming of the Gulf of America, the White House announced that the media outlet would largely be excluded from most media events involving the president, which predictably prompted a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds.

In April, D.C. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a first-term Trump appointee, ruled in favor of the AP and issued an injunction to block the White House from excluding the media outlet on the basis of its viewpoints, but that order was appealed and has now been placed on hold.

In a 2-1 ruling, a D.C. Circuit Court panel determined that the White House could bar specific media outlets from nonpublic areas with limited space for the media like the Oval Office, Air Force One, and Mar-a-Lago, for any or no reason at all, even if other outlets were granted access.

The AP must be granted access, however, to other areas that are generally open to all members of the media, such as the White House Briefing Room or the East Room, where press conferences and other public events are often held.

Judge Neomi Rao, also a first-term Trump appointee, wrote for the majority that "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."

Trump and the White House celebrate the panel's decision

In reaction to the appellate panel's ruling, President Trump said in a Truth Social post, "Big WIN over AP today. They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!!"

Joining Trump in celebrating the news was White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budwich, the named defendant in the AP's lawsuit, who said in an X post, "While the Associated Press’ right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not guarantee a right to unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One. This ruling with a great victory for democracy!"

Also weighing in on the matter was White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who posted on X, "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 added. "And by the way @AP, it’s still the Gulf of America."

AP is "disappointed" and considering an appeal

CNN reported that an AP spokesperson lamented the appellate panel's ruling and said, "We are disappointed in the court’s decision and are reviewing our options."

The AP may further appeal this unfavorable decision for them, and it should be noted that the underlying lawsuit has not yet been decided on the merits, but in the meantime, the Trump White House can once again punitively exclude the AP -- or any other media outlet -- from nonpublic spaces like the Oval Office, Air Force One, and the president's Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida.