The Associated Press said on Tuesday that one of its reporters was barred from an Oval Office event because the outlet has continued to refer to the Gulf of Mexico by its original name.
In a statement, The A.P.’s executive editor, Julie Pace, said that they were informed by the White House that the news organization would not be allowed to attend the event if the outlet did not start using “Gulf of America,” the name President Trump decreed through an executive order in January.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish A.P. for its independent journalism,” Ms. 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 A.P. had issued editorial guidance about the Gulf of Mexico on Jan. 23. In a post on its website, it said that the body of water had carried its name for more than 400 years and shared borders with both the U.S. and Mexico. Because Mr. Trump’s executive order only carried authority within the U.S. and had not been recognized by Mexico, the A.P. said it would refer to the Gulf of Mexico “by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.”
Meanwhile, the A.P. did update its stylebook to reflect Mr. Trump’s order to revert the name of Denali, a mountain in Alaska, back to Mt. McKinley.
Mr. Trump issued the executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico on Jan. 20, part of his pledge to honor “American greatness.” He declared Feb. 9 “Gulf of America Day.”
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