The Associated Press said that a reporter was blocked from attending an official Oval Office event because the press was not using the new name of “Gulf of America” for the previously named Gulf of Mexico.
President Donald Trump first suggested that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed in January at Mar-a-Lago during a rant against Mexico that also involved hitting the country with damaging tariffs over illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
‘It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism.’
The Associated Press said in a statement Tuesday that its reporter would not be allowed to attend an executive order signing.
“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,” read the statement. “This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”
The AP went on to accuse the administration of violating the Constitution.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” read the statement. “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 Stylebook is used by many journalists and writers beyond those employed at the Associated Press.
The news outlet also claimed without evidence that it informs “billions of people around the world every day with factual, nonpartisan journalism.”
The Trump administration has shown its hostility to the mainstream media by opening up passes to the media briefing room to “independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators.”
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