An Associated Press journalist was not allowed to cover a presidential press conference over the Gulf of America naming dispute
The White House barred an Associated Press (AP) reporter from attending a media event on Thursday after the news agency refused to heed US President Donald Trump’s directive to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” This comes amid an ongoing conflict between the new US administration and legacy media outlets.
Following Trump’s January executive order, The Gulf of Mexico became the Gulf of America and Alaska’s Mt. McKinley, which had been renamed Denali, got its original name back. AP opted to stick with the traditional name for the international body of water but switched its style for the peak, arguing that the latter is under US jurisdiction.
The reporter was denied entry to a news conference where Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi answered questions, AP confirmed on Friday. The agency’s Executive Editor Julie Pace described the barring as a “deeply troubling escalation,” noting that it was the third day AP reporters had been barred from covering the president.
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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,” The White House deputy chief of staff, Taylor Budowich, said on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday. “AP journalists and photographers will retain their credentials to the White House complex,” he added.
“Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment [of the US constitution that stipulates the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press],” stated AP’s Pace.
The dispute over the Gulf’s naming is part of a broader clash between the Trump administration and US media organizations. In recent weeks, the White House has scrutinized federal funding for media outlets, with President Trump alleging that payments for subscriptions and services amount to “payoffs” for favorable coverage of Democrats.
Elon Musk, who now heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), highlighted that millions were spent on subscriptions to services like Politico Pro, describing the media funding as “a huge waste of taxpayer money.” In response, the administration has moved to cancel such subscriptions.
Media organizations have defended the expenditures, stating they are standard transactions for access to specialized reporting and analysis.
Trump also suggested that billions of dollars had been misappropriated within agencies such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington’s primary agency for funding political projects abroad, to pay for favorable media coverage of the Democrats. Several US media outlets, including Politico, the New York Times, and the Associated Press, have rejected the allegation. CNN went as far as to decry the accusations as “a false right-wing conspiracy theory.”
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