President Donald Trump can bar The Associated Press from some White House media events for now, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, pausing a lower court order to give access to the US news agency's journalists.

AP journalists and photographers have been barred from the Oval Office and from traveling on Air Force One since mid-February because of the news agency's decision to continue referring to the "Gulf of Mexico" -- and not the "Gulf of America" as decreed by Trump.

In April, district court judge Trevor McFadden deemed that move a violation of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press.

But on Friday, a panel of judges with the Washington-based federal appeals court ruled that, pending appeal, the government could go ahead and bar AP from "restricted presidential spaces," which it said did not fall under First Amendment protections.

The AP, a 180-year-old news organisation, has so far refused to backtrack on its decision to continue referring to the "Gulf of Mexico."

In its style guide, it highlights that the Gulf of Mexico has "carried that name for more than 400 years" and the agency "will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen."

Since Trump returned to the presidency in January, his administration has sought to radically restructure the way the White House is covered, notably by favouring conservative podcasters and influencers.

Two weeks after barring the AP, the White House stripped journalists of the nearly century-old power to decide which of the profession's own number will be members of a pool of reporters and photographers covering presidential events. (AFP)