U.S. President Donald Trump has the right to ban the Associated Press news agency from accessing certain media-covered events after an appeals court suspended an earlier court ruling ordering the lifting of restrictions imposed on the AP.

A federal appeals court verdict in Washington temporarily blocks Judge Trevor McFadden’s order, who ruled on April 8 that the Trump administration must allow AP reporters access to events covered by members of the press in the White House Oval Office and on the presidential aircraft (Air Force One) until the news agency’s appeal against the restrictions imposed on it is considered.

The AP filed a lawsuit in February after the White House restricted the news agency’s access because it decided to continue using the name “Gulf of Mexico” in its reporting, despite Trump’s executive order renaming the region the “Gulf of America.”

AP lawyers pointed out that Trump’s decision violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects free speech. It has explained that the Gulf of Mexico has had that name for more than 400 years, and has pointed out that Trump’s name change applies only to the US, as other countries and international institutions have not complied with it.

Judge McFadden, who was appointed by Trump during his previous presidential term, said if the White House cannot ban access to certain journalists because of their views.

Lawyers for the Trump administration have argued that media access to the White House is at the discretion of the US president and that Judge McFadden’s verdict violates the president’s right to decide who to allow access to sensitive sites. “The Constitution does not prohibit the president from considering prior press coverage when evaluating the degree of access he will grant to that reporter,” the legal team representing the government said, according to a court document.

On April 16, the AP accused the Trump administration of defying a court order by continuing to bar its reporters from certain events and then imposing restrictions on other news outlets, including Reuters and Bloomberg.