Does barring the AP from events open to the White House press pool violate the First Amendment? In my view, the answer is “yes.” It is black-letter law that, absent a compelling reason, the government may not punish people or organizations—journalists or not—based on the content of their speech.

"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 AP said in its lawsuit.

District Judge Trevor N. McFadden denied the AP’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have restored press access, after President Trump’s “Gulf of America” decree.