in its continuing battle with the Trump administration over access by its journalists to cover presidential events.

By a 2-1 margin, judges on the three-judge US Court of Appeals in Washington granted Trump a stay in enforcement of a lower-court ruling that the administration had improperly punished the AP for the content of its speech — in this case not renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Trump’s liking.

The news outlet’s access to events in the Oval Office and Air Force One was cut back starting in February after the AP said it would continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico in its copy, while noting Trump’s wishes that it instead be renamed the Gulf of America.

For decades, a reporter and photographer for the AP – a 179-year-old wire service whose material is sent to thousands of news outlets across the world and carried on its own website, reaching billions of people – had been part of a “pool” that covers a president in places where space is limited.

The decision itself was aimed only at whether to continue the stay. But the majority and dissenting opinions together totaled 55 pages and delved deeply into First Amendment precedents and questions about whether places like the Oval Office and Air Force One were, in effect, private spaces.

Trump posted about the decision on the Truth Social platform shortly after the decision: “Big WIN over AP today. They refused to state the facts or the Truth on the GULF OF AMERICA. FAKE NEWS!!!” And White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, one of the defendants in the AP’s lawsuit, posted on X after the decision came down that it was a “VICTORY!” and would allow more media to access the president beyond the “failing legacy media.” She added: “And by the way, @AP, it’s still the Gulf of America.” (Jamaica Gleaner)