The Associated Press has hit back after one of its journalists was banned from the White House after the news service failed to call the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America’ amid its controversial name change.
The AP reporter was attempting to cover two events, but was blocked by the White House.
This comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office renaming the Gulf ‘in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people’.
The AP recommends that its reporters use the original name for the Gulf, while also keeping note of Trump’s new name, with the updated Stylebook entry stating: “The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. Refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.”
The AP Stylebook notes: “Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change.”
The name has been changed on Google Maps in the US (Google Maps)
AP’s Executive Editor Julie Pace wrote a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles ‘to object in the strongest possible terms’ to the journo being barred.
In her letter, which was shared with NPR, Pace wrote that White House chief spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, told the AP reporter that access to the Oval Office would be restricted if they didn’t immediately adopt Trump’s new name for the Gulf.
Pace wrote: “The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech.
“It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say.”
She went on to write that the AP would ‘vigorously defend its constitutional rights and protest the infringement on the public’s right to independent news coverage of their government and elected officials.’
Donald Trump’s Press Secretary defended the choice (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
However, Leavitt was seemingly undeterred, telling press: “It is a privilege to cover this White House.
“Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions. That’s an invitation that is given.”
She added: “I was very upfront in my briefing on day one that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable.
“And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America. And I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that.”
The events that the AP reporter was blocked from covering included Trump and Elon Musk speaking of the cuts they were making to the federal government as part of Musk’s DOGE plan.
Then, they were blocked from attending an event with a US prisoner who had been released by the Russian government.
The AP’s wire feed – which is part of the so-called ‘press pool’ in politics – provides newsrooms across the globe with information, and its style guide is classed as an industry standard.
