The White House has blocked the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One because the news organization has refrained from renaming the "Gulf of Mexico" to the "Gulf of America."
President Trump, on his first day in office, directed the Department of the Interior to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Companies such as Google have gone along with the change, but the Associated Press has said it would continue to call the body of water by its original name. The decision has irked White House officials, who have blocked AP reporters from events in the Oval Office and the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room in recent days while the situation played out.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich took to X on Friday to elaborate, and indicated the AP would be kept from the Oval Office and Air Force One going forward.
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"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 by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One," Taylor Budowich posted on X.
"Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration," Budowich continued. "Associate Press journalists and photographers will retain their credentials to the White House complex."
The Associated Press did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Earlier this week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that "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."
AP senior vice president and executive editor Julie Pace wrote to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday after a reporter was blocked from attending a White House event.
"The actions taken by this White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech," Pace wrote, according to an AP report. "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."
This is a developing story, more to come…
