A reporter with the Associated Press has been blocked from entering the Oval Office after the media group’s refusal to acknowledge the Gulf of America.
“Today our @AP White House reporter was denied access to the Oval Office because the Associated Press recognizes the international body of water on our southern coastline as the Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging President Donald Trump’s order to rename it the Gulf of America,” AP Pentagon Correspondent Tara Copp said.
AP’s executive editor, Julie Pace, called the block is “alarming.”
“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 previously said it would recognize the name change of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America only within the United States.
“The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen,” the AP said of its style guide. “As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”
“There are other examples where the AP refers to a geographical place by more than one name,” the media service added. “For example, the Gulf of California is sometimes referred to as the Sea of Cortez. The U.S. government has designated that body of water as the Gulf of California, while Mexico recognizes it as the Sea of Cortez.”
