White House Not Backing Down From Its Fight Against AP

The Trump administration said Wednesday it would appeal a federal court decision that ordered it to re-admit Associated Press journalists to White House events on First Amendment grounds. The AP reports the government filed a notice of appeal early Wednesday afternoon on behalf of the three officials sued by the AP—White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, White House chief of staff Susan Wiles, and deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich.

The defendants "respectfully provide notice that they hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit," the notice said. It gave no other details. On Tuesday, US District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of President Trump, ruled in favor of the AP, whose reporters and photographers had been excluded from White House events since Feb. 11 because the news agency had decided not to follow the president's executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. McFadden ruled that the government can't retaliate against the AP's decision, but Reuters notes that he put his order on hold until Sunday so that the White House would have time to appeal.

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