Trump bans major US news agency for refusing to rename Gulf of Mexico

Washington: President Donald Trump has banned one of the main US news agencies, The Associated Press, from the Oval Office and Air Force One because it has refused to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in line with his executive order.

The extraordinary move has been labelled press censorship and an assault on the First Amendment, which guarantees the rights of free speech and the press.

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One at the White House on Friday.Credit: AP

The agency, which provides core newswire and photography services relied on by thousands of media outlets, was refused entry to some White House events earlier in the week. On Friday (Saturday AEDT), White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich announced the ban would be ongoing.

“The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press’ commitment to misinformation,” he claimed in a statement on X.

“While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One.

“Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration. Associated Press journalists and photographers will retain their credentials to the White House complex.”

The Associated Press news agency was barred from a press conference with Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (not shown).Credit: Bloomberg

A day earlier, AP was banned from an open news conference in the White House with Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which AP executive editor Julie Pace called a “deeply troubling escalation” of the administration’s efforts to punish the news agency.

“This is now the third day AP reporters have been barred from covering the president – first as a member of the pool, and now from a formal press conference – an incredible disservice to the billions of people who rely on The Associated Press for nonpartisan news,” she said.

“It is a plain violation of the First Amendment, and we urge the Trump administration in the strongest terms to stop this practice.”

In a letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Pace said the administration’s actions were discriminatory against a viewpoint. “It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say,” she wrote.

Google is using Gulf of America in the US, Gulf of Mexico in Mexico, and both names elsewhere.

In a statement, The Associated Press said: “Freedom of speech is a pillar of American democracy and a core value of the American people. The White House has said it supports these principles. The actions taken to restrict AP’s coverage of presidential events because of how we refer to a geographic location chip away at this important right enshrined in the US Constitution for all Americans.”

Trump signed the executive order to rename the body of water in January, but AP said the order only carried authority within the US, and as a global news agency distributing news around the world, AP “must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognisable to all audiences”.

“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,” it said at the time.

Asked about the matter earlier in the week after the agency was first barred from an Oval Office event, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was a matter of importance to the administration that outlets used the term Trump had designated.

“I was very upfront in my briefing on day one that if we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,” she said.

“It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America. I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that, but that is what it is.”

Leavitt pointed out other media outlets and platforms, such as Apple Maps, had renamed the body of water. Google announced it would rename it for Google Maps users in the United States.

Aaron Terr, director of public advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said while the White House was not compelled to open its doors to the media, once it does, it must play by constitutional rules – as determined by court rulings over several decades.

“The reason for denying access matters,” Terr said. “When the government shuts out journalists explicitly because it dislikes their reporting or political views, that violates the First Amendment.”

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