• A federal appeals court allows Trump to limit AP's access to certain White House areas.
• The ruling suspends a previous court decision mandating access for AP journalists.
• Trump criticized AP as "fake news" following the court's decision.

A federal appeals court has ruled that President Donald Trump can temporarily bar the Associated Press (AP) from restricted areas within the White House, including the Oval Office and Air Force One. This ruling pauses an earlier decision from U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, which mandated that AP journalists be permitted access while their lawsuit proceeds, according to CBS News and HuffPost.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in a 2-1 decision, found that the government is likely to prevail on the merits of its argument that spaces like the Oval Office and Air Force One are not public forums protected by the First Amendment. Judges Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas, both appointed by Trump, asserted that the White House maintains discretion over which journalists may be allowed in these restricted areas, indicating that the government's request for a stay of the lower court's ruling was appropriate due to potential irreparable harm it would cause to presidential authority, according to The Jakarta Post and AA.

The controversy commenced in February when the AP was banned from exclusive White House events due to its refusal to replace the term "Gulf of Mexico" with "Gulf of America," as demanded by Trump. Following the ruling, Trump took to social media, celebrating the decision and labeling AP as "fake news," further fueling tensions with the news organization that has a long-standing history in journalism, according to India Times and HuffPost.