AP

A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to restore The Associated Press’ full access to cover presidential events, affirming on First Amendment grounds that the government cannot punish the news organization for the content of its speech.

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Trump administration to restore The Associated Press’s access to key White House spaces after it exiled AP reporters over the organization’s refusal to use “Gulf of America” in its popular stylebook.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of President Trump, directed the White House to resume allowing the AP into the Oval Office, Air Force One and other limited spaces when they’re made available to other press pool members.

The White House violated the Constitution for barring the Associated Press from Oval Office events, according to a federal judge’s ruling Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, a Trump appointee, said that the White House acted against the First Amendment, which prohibits discrimination based on viewpoints, by blocking the longtime publication’s access over its refusal to use the term "Gulf of America."

District Court Judge Trevor McFadden issued a ruling on Tuesday stating that the court was granting the AP’s “relief” after it filed a lawsuit in February in response to being hit with limited access to presidential events and places such as Air Force One and the Oval Office, according to CNBC. McFadden argued that the AP’s exclusion from the press pool and certain spaces is “contrary to the First Amendment.”

The Associated Press has retracted a story it published Monday which wrongly claimed that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were "good friends."

"The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard saying President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin 'are very good friends.' Gabbard was talking about Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The AP will publish a corrected version of the story," a statement from AP said.

At the end of a recently published Associated Press investigation into American tech companies “that have supported Israel’s wars” came a disclosure: “The Associated Press receives financial assistance from the Omidyar Network.”

The language indicates a shift at the media outlet, whose special White House access President Trump recently withdrew. The news-gathering cooperative was once funded largely by dues from member newspapers. Now it increasingly relies on handouts from left-leaning charities. Yet it insists its journalism is “independent” and “nonpartisan.”

A federal judge on Monday denied a request by the Associated Press to restore full access for the news agency’s journalists after President Donald Trump’s administration barred them for continuing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in coverage.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, declined to immediately grant the AP’s request for a temporary injunction restoring its access to the Oval Office and Air Force One during a hearing in Washington federal court.