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President Donald Trump’s administration targeted the Associated Press (AP) over rights to the iconic photo of the president in Butler, Pennsylvania, taken after an assassination attempt, according to a New York Times report.
The AP has repeatedly sparred with the Trump White House after the president was elected in 2024.
The outlet was banned from the Oval Office and Air Force One shortly after Trump was inaugurated because the AP continued to use “Gulf of Mexico” after the president renamed it the Gulf of America in 2025. The ban has led to a First Amendment battle in court.
However, according to the Times, White House aides also connected the ban to the AP’s refusal to give them rights to the infamous photo of the president after he was shot. The Times cited two people briefed on a private lunch with Trump and network anchors in 2025.
The dispute over photographer Evan Vucci’s viral image was another reason for the AP’s White House ban, according to the NYT. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)
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“We’re focused on continuing to stand for the right of the public and the press to speak freely without government retaliation or control,” a spokesman for the AP told Fox News Digital in a statement in response to the claim.
A source added the White House has not communicated this reasoning to the AP.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Trump was rushed offstage by Secret Service agents after gunfire grazed his upper right ear during his July 13, 2024, rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The attack came months before Trump’s re-election and preceded a series of later alleged attempts and reported threats against his life.
The president was mid-sentence, pointing to a chart on illegal immigration under the Biden administration, when gunshots pierced the air at his Butler rally. Authorities identified the gunman as Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired from the roof of a nearby building.
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The AP has repeatedly sparred with the Trump White House after the president was elected in 2024. (Getty Images)
Secret Service agents tackled Trump to the ground. Moments later, as they rose to escort him to his motorcade, Trump emerged from the huddle. Trump raised his fist high in the air, and said “fight” three times, prompting the audience to erupt and chant “U-S-A!” as he exited.
The gunman killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was shielding his family, and wounded two other men. A Secret Service sniper killed Crooks during the attack.
A photo of Trump, captured by Evan Vucci of the AP, with his fist raised and blood visible on his face, quickly went viral and landed on the front pages of newspapers across the world.
“I was literally just thinking about doing the best possible job I could, because I knew that this was a moment in American history that I had to be at the top of my game for,” Vucci told Fox News Digital in July 2024, after the assassination attempt.
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Trump’s administration targeted the Associated Press over photo rights to Evan Vucci’s iconic Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt image, according to a NYT report. (Bloomberg)
“I knew immediately it was gunfire. I trained my lens on the stage, and I saw Secret Service agents going to run to the president, covering him up. And from that moment, I ran to the stage and I got my wide angle lens, and I started making photographs. I went into work mode,” Vucci said. “I knew immediately that it was going to be one of the most important things I’ll ever photograph, and that I needed to do the best job possible.”
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Vucci switched to a wide angle to ensure the flag flying above got in his shot. He noticed an SUV parked at the side of the stage as Secret Service agents covered Trump and chaos erupted around him. Vucci said he “sprinted” to the side of the stage, assuming it was where Trump would exit, and got in position to snap photos as Trump pumped his fist toward the crowd.
“That’s where I was when he was coming down… and that’s the photo a lot of people are sharing,” he said.
Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
