A US federal judge ruled Tuesday that the White House must restore full access of the Associated Press (AP)  to presidential events.

“The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists — be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere — it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” wrote Judge Trevor N. McFadden in his order. “The Constitution requires no less.”

This comes after President Donald Trump’s administration revoked the wire service’s access to the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other limited spaces where credentialed members of the press have access in retaliation for the news organization’s failure to follow Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

McFadden, a Trump appointee, noted that the decision does not prohibit government officials from choosing which reporters to interview with or answer questions for, nor does it prevent officials from publicly expressing their views. However, it does affirm the AP’s “First Amendment right to gather and quickly disseminate news about the President,” which he said was hampered by the ban.

The AP sued the Trump administration on February 21 to stop the ban, naming White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich in the lawsuit. McFadden had previously denied a request by the AP for a temporary restraining order that would have stopped the ban in February. 

In his recent decision, McFadden harshly criticized with the “brazen” ban of the AP from the White House press pool, citing “several high-ranking officials” who had admitted to restricting the AP’s access “precisely because of the organization’s viewpoint.”

The AP announced its guidance on maintaining the use of identifying the body of water bordering the U.S. and Mexico as the Gulf of Mexico on January 23, rather than adopting the new name announced by Trump via executive order on January 20.

“The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years,” the AP announced in its style guidance. “The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”

At a press briefing at the White House on February 12, Leavitt doubled down on the decision to ban the AP, calling the use of the name Gulf of Mexico after the president’s executive order renaming the body of water “lies being pushed.”

“We are going to hold those lies accountable,” Leavitt added.

For more than a century, the AP has reserved two permanent spots in the press pool — one for a reporter and another for a photographer. The AP continued to cover the White House and the Trump Administration despite the ban.

The court’s decision will go into effect April 13, allowing the government time to appeal while also preparing to reinstate the AP’s access to the White House, according to the order.