Editor's note: The Associated Press, previously barred from the White House press pool, won restored access to cover presidential events on April 8, 2025, after a judge ruled that the U.S. government cannot retaliate against the AP for its editorial decisions, b
On March 27, 2025,
the photographer who tooks this is no longer allowed to be in Trump press rooms lol pic.twitter.com/5XnariN1NK
— Joseph (@MingAutocrat) March 28, 2025
Underneath the post above, the X user posted the source that inspired the claim, a Politico story titled "He took the iconic Trump fist-pump photo. Now he's fighting Trump to be allowed back in the Oval Office."
The Politico story's headline is accurate. Alongside the rest of his Associated Press colleagues, Evan Vucci, the AP's chief photographer in Washington, D.C., and the photojournalist behind the photo in question, was barred from the White House press pool, a small group of journalists with privileged access who travel with the president at almost all times.
This means that as of the date of the X posts, Vucci no longer had access to the Oval Office, Air Force One and other areas with limited media access. However, AP journalists, including Vucci, did continue to have some access to White House press facilities including the White House briefing room. Thus, we rate this claim a mixture of truth and falsehood.
In a lawsuit The Associated Press filed against three Trump officials in February over the press pool ban, the news organization said "allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American's freedom." The White House, in response, said "this case is about The Associated Press losing special media access to the President—a quintessentially discretionary presidential choice that infringes no constitutional right."
While a judge ordered on April 8, 2025, that the White House must restore the AP's "full access to cover presidential events," per the publication's own story, The Associated Press also reported on April 14, 2025 that the White House barred the newsroom from accessing an Oval Office news conference.
"The extent of AP's future access remains uncertain, even with the court decision," wrote AP reporter David Bauder.
Snopes previously fact-checked a misleading claim comparing former President Joe Biden's White House press pool changes to those of the Trump administration.
White House barred AP over 'Gulf of Mexico' language
On Feb. 11, 2025, the AP's executive editor, Julie Pace, released a statement announcing that the White House informed her organization that "if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office."
"This afternoon AP's reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing," the statement continued. (The AP's guidance on the Gulf of Mexico notes that as a "global news agency," it "must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.")
The White House doubled down on its decision to bar AP journalists on Feb. 14; Taylor Budowich, a senior White House official, announced on X that AP journalists would be barred from "access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One." According to both the White House (see Page 5) and the AP, Trump himself made the decision to bar AP journalists from the White House press pool.
The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press' commitment to misinformation. While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected…
— Taylor Budowich (@Taylor47) February 14, 2025
As a result, Vucci, the AP photographer, was barred alongside the rest of his colleagues between February and April — and there is no question that Vucci took the famous image of Trump referenced in social media posts. The Associated Press ran a "behind the news" story crediting the image to Vucci alongside a collection of news stories that used the image with credit to Vucci. While other photographers captured images of Trump's fist-pump, Vucci's photo has been used on flags, Trump's upcoming book and even as a backdrop for U.S. lawmakers questioning the Secret Service director in the wake of the attempted assassination.
In the April 8 decision restoring the AP's access, U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden, an appointee of Trump, said his decision aligned with the right to free speech.
"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," McFadden wrote. "The Constitution requires no less."
White House, AP disagreed on how much access AP journalists had
The White House claimed in Feb. 24 court filings that "The Associated Press continues to enjoy general media access to the White House press facilities" despite being banned from the more exclusive press pool. But the AP's media relations director, Patrick Maks, in response, sent this excerpt via email from the AP's Feb. 21 lawsuit (emphasis ours):
Notably, this matter is not only about the press pool, as the AP's journalists are also banned from larger events – including press conferences with the President and other world leaders – that are held in some of the White House's biggest spaces or even outside of the White House and that are open to all White House-credentialed journalists so long as they sign up in advance. The AP's journalists, despite signing up in advance, are turned away. The net result is that the AP's press credentials now provide its journalists less access to the White House than the same press credentials provide to all other members of the White House press corps.
The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry as to whether the Trump administration disagrees with the AP's claim that its journalists have less access than the general White House press corps. We also reached out to Vucci and will update this fact check if we learn more.
Both the AP's (Page 10) and the White House's (Page 6) court filings carry detailed lists of times the news agency was either barred or allowed into official Trump administration events. Maks also sent a link to an AP story about the court case; that story noted the AP and the White House disagree on how much access the AP has had to the East Room, which is used for White House receptions and other events.
According to stories from multiple reputable news outlets, including the AP, Vucci testified in court that being barred from the press pool affected his ability to do his job; many other news organizations rely on AP, which acts as a wire service, for images that are expected to be sent "on the wire and to the world within a minute after taking them — while the event is still going on."
However, those seats are traditionally arranged by the White House Correspondents Association, not the White House; after the association publicly supported the AP, the White House announced its intention to control the press pool, as well as, reportedly, the press pool seating chart, meaning the AP may lose its seat in the future.
Thus, while Vucci was barred from many White House events and spaces after Trump kicked the AP out of the White House press pool at the time the claim first spread, Vucci could still access some White House press rooms and events — although the White House and AP disagreed on how much access the news outlet's journalists had.