
Article in The Guardian by Anna Betts, 1/12/25
Headline: “AP excoriates White House barring of reporters as ‘alarming precedent’ “
Subhead: “Editor Julie Pace writes to Trump’s chief of staff about ban on its journalists after AP declines to use ‘Gulf of America’ “
“The executive editor of the Associated Press sent a letter to the White House on Wednesday criticizing its decision to block two of its journalists from attending press events on Tuesday after the outlet refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as ‘the Gulf of America’ ”.
“I write on behalf of The Associated Press, an independent global news organization that reaches billions of people every day, to object in the strongest possible terms to the actions taken by the Trump administration against AP yesterday,” Julie Pace, the AP’s executive editor, wrote in the letter addressed to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff.
“The issue here is free speech – a fundamental pillar of American democracy and a value of the utmost importance to all Americans, regardless of political persuasion, occupation or industry.”
Pace said that on Tuesday, the White House barred AP journalists from attending two press events with Donald Trump, “following an apparent complaint over AP’s editorial decisions regarding the Gulf of Mexico, which President Trump renamed the Gulf of America”.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/12/ap-white-house
– – – – –
Article in The Hill by Dominick Mastrangelo, 2/12/25
Headline: “Leavitt defends banning AP from Oval Office over ‘Gulf of America’ stance’ “
“White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended a decision by the White House on Tuesday to keep The Associated Press out of the pool of reporters allowed inside the Oval Office to cover an executive order signing with President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
“We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office,” Leavitt said during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday when asked about the move, calling it a “privilege to cover the White House.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5141155-karoline-leavitt-ap-oval-office-gulf-of-america/