The White House banned an Associated Press reporter from attending an executive-order signing in the Oval Office on Tuesday — in protest of the outlet’s style guidance on the Gulf of America, the news agency said.
“Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office,” the AP’s executive editor, Julie Pace, said in a statement.
“This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”
The outlet manages the “Associated Press Stylebook,” which is widely used by media publications across the country for guidance on abbreviations, spelling, references and more.
Much to the chagrin of the White House, the AP has refrained from updating its style guidance to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
The White House did not respond to questions from The Post about the incident.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” Pace said.
“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.”
The AP defended its refusal to change its guidance for the Gulf of America by arguing that the body of water has been called the Gulf of Mexico for “more than 400 years” and other international groups have not acknowledged the change.
Tuesday’s executive-order signing by Trump involved him instructing federal department heads to develop plans for “large-scale reductions in force.” Under the policy, the government can only hire for a position if four people leave.
Trump, 78, signed the executive order accompanied by Department of Government Efficiency boss Elon Musk, who donned a dark MAGA hat and brought his young son X Æ A-Xii with him.
Typically, Trump fields questions during such occasions in the Oval Office, which is why the AP was peeved about being left out.
Shortly after being sworn into office last month, Trump signed an executive order renaming the coastline along the southern US as the Gulf of America. To celebrate, the president proclaimed this past Sunday the Gulf of America Day.
His administration, through the Department of the Interior and other avenues, has pushed private companies to update their maps with the new terminology. Google Maps has made the change for its US-based users.
The president has shown a strong desire during his second term to expand US territory and has openly floated the possibility of acquiring Canada, the Gaza Strip, Greenland and the Panama Canal.
Reporters have previously been kicked out of key White House events.
Two years ago, for example, the Biden administration banned The Post, which had been critical of it, from an event, claiming that it was “unable to accommodate your credential request.” Subsequently, The Post reported that there were about 20 empty press seats at the event.
At the time, the Biden White House did not answer additional questions from The Post about the exclusion.
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