After losing a court case about The Associated Press being able to see the president, the White House announced a new rule on Tuesday. This rule makes it much harder for news agencies to get close to Donald Trump. It was the latest time the new government tried to control how news about what they do is reported.

This action would stop news services like the AP from reaching many people through different news sources. This happened after a judge said the White House had limited the organization's freedom of speech by stopping it because they did not agree with the organization's choice not to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico.

According to people who have seen the plan, the White House is making a new rule about which reporters can be in small places like the Oval Office and Air Force One. The press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, will decide who gets to ask the President questions.

The White House did not reply to requests for a statement on Tuesday evening.

Last week, a judge said the White House was wrong to punish the AP. This was because the AP would not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. The White House had stopped AP reporters and photographers from covering events. The judge ordered the government to treat the AP like other news groups.

The day after not following the rule and still banning AP, the White House shared a new plan with some journalists. This happened when Trump and El Salvador's President talked to reporters.

For many years, the White House Correspondents Association has been in charge of a small group of reporters for events with limited space. This group always included reporters from the news agencies AP, Reuters, and Bloomberg. One reporter from print newspapers was also allowed, who was chosen one after another from over 30 news organizations.

The White House will now group the three wire services with print reporters for two positions. This means around 36 reporters will take turns using these two regular spots. Wire services usually write news stories that are used by many different news organizations in many places.

Despite the changes, the White House said Trump's press secretary will still decide which reporters are in the group each day. The new rules also say reporters can be included no matter what their newspaper's opinion is.

In a statement, Lauren Easton from the Associated Press (AP) said they were very disappointed. She said the White House limited access for all news agencies instead of letting the AP have their access back.

"Wire services work with many news companies in the U.S. and around the world," said Easton, who speaks for AP. "Newspapers and TV stations in every state use our news to keep people in their areas informed."

Easton said on Tuesday night that the government's actions still ignore the basic American right to speak freely, without the government trying to control or punish people.

The independent White House Correspondents' Association said the government's demand to control who reports on the president shows they won't promise to stop treating people unfairly because of their opinions.

Eugene Daniels, the head of the association, said the government should not be allowed to control the independent news that reports on it.

Since Leavitt took over, the White House has allowed news groups that like Trump to have more access. We saw this on Tuesday when the first reporter Leavitt talked to at a meeting asked two questions and also said positive things about Trump's plans.

During a meeting on Monday, Trump got angry about questions from a reporter about a man sent back to El Salvador. He even said the news organization "hated our country." He compared her questions to an easier one from another reporter.

Even though there were some difficult moments, Trump has been more available to the media than the president before him, Joe Biden. He especially likes talking in small places like the Oval Office, which makes the new rule about letting the media in more important.

The new rule announced on Tuesday did not mention whether photographers could enter.

The argument began because AP decided not to follow the president's order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico. However, AP's style guide does mention that Trump wanted it called the Gulf of America. McFadden agreed with AP's view that the government cannot punish the news organization for what it publishes, as this is their right to free speech.

The White House believes that journalists seeing the president is a special opportunity, not a right, and that they should decide who gets this access. They say it's similar to how they choose who President Trump speaks with privately. Last weekend, his lawyers wrote in court documents that even after the judge's ruling, news organizations like the AP would no longer have easy access to public presidential events.

The government stated that no other news organization in the United States gets the same guaranteed access that the AP used to have. They added that the AP might be used to its special position, but the Constitution does not say this position must last forever.

The government has challenged McFadden's decision and will ask a higher court on Thursday to stop that decision for now until the whole case is decided, maybe by the highest court in the US.

For the past two months, the government has not stopped AP from going to Leavitt's meetings. But it has stopped AP reporters with White House passes from going to events in the East Room. This changed on Tuesday when an AP reporter was allowed to go to an event with the Navy football team.