The Associated Press filed a motion on Wednesday morning, requesting that a judge compel “immediate compliance” with a recent injunction and restore its access to the Oval Office and other parts of the White House after the Trump Administration’s decision to no longer guarantee a spot in the press pool for wire news services.
In its filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the AP said the Trump Administration’s move is a “clear violation” of a recent preliminary injunction that immediately reinstated the outlet’s access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and other “limited spaces” near the president.
“Moreover, as reflected in the daily pool guidance for today (April 16), even under this new policy, the White House has again excluded the AP from the pool,” the AP’s motion noted.
They continued: “Specifically, the new policy abolishes the wire service seat that the White House itself established on Feb. 25, replacing it with a second print reporter seat for which wire services are ostensibly eligible – but the AP was immediately skipped over for that second print seat.”
Wednesday’s filing comes the morning after the White House shook up the press pool. The pool’s new makeup will allow access to two print journalists (or “print poolers”); one network crew from the likes of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC; one secondary network or streamer; one radio station; one new media outlet, and four photographers.
“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 on Tuesday. “The White House press policy continues to be grounded in fairness for all outlets that wish to cover the White House.”
For decades, the White House has granted wire access for three legacy outlets: AP, Bloomberg and Reuters. These agencies were given access to all presidential events in smaller venues such as the Oval Office, while other outlets part of the rotating “print” press pool rotation could only participate once a month.
The Wednesday filing is the latest twist in the ongoing AP-Trump feud. It started in February, when the White House press team blocked the AP from accessing certain parts of the White House after the outlet refused to use the term “Gulf of America” in its reporting, following President Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico on government documents. The AP sued several members of the Trump Administration looking to regain its full access — its reporters had still been able to go to White House press briefings in the meantime — later in February.
Last week, D.C. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden sided with the AP, granting its request for an injunction against its restrict access; McFadden said the Trump Administration must “immediately rescind the denial of AP’s access.”
“The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” McFadden said in his ruling. “The Constitution requires no less.”
