The White House said Wednesday that news organisations that refuse to use President Donald Trump's new name for the Gulf of Mexico were telling “lies” and insisted it would continue to bar Associated Press journalists from presidential events.
Trump has decreed that the international body of water — which borders Mexico, the United States and other nations — be called the Gulf of America. In its influential Stylebook, the AP said it would continue to use Gulf of Mexico, while also noting Trump's decision, to ensure that names of geographical features are recognisable around the world.
The White House's outright attempt at regulating language used by independent media — and the punitive measures attached to it — mark a sharp escalation in Trump's often fraught dealings with news organisations.
At a regular briefing Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I'm not sure why news outlets don't want to call it that." In reality, the body lies partially in waters that don't belong to the United States and has been called the Gulf of Mexico for hundreds of years.
On Tuesday, AP reporters were blocked from attending events in the Oval Office and the White House's Diplomatic Reception Room. While an AP reporter was in the White House briefing room Wednesday for Leavitt's remarks, they were turned away at a later event in the Oval Office for the swearing in of Tulsi Gabbard as national intelligence director.
Julie Pace, AP's senior vice president and executive editor, wrote to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday objecting to the moves.
“The actions taken by this White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote. “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.” White House says Oval Office access is a privilege The White House pointed out that the AP was allowed into its briefing Wednesday but continued to take issue with the style of the gulf's name.
“Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions,” Leavitt said.
“We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office.” Generally, a small pool of journalists are allowed in when the press is permitted to cover White House events where space is tight. The AP, which transmits news to thousands of clients, has traditionally been a part of that pool in past administrations.
Asked if barring AP reporters was retaliatory, Leavitt said that the Interior Secretary has codified the name change in official documents and that “pretty much every other outlet in this room has recognised that body of water as the Gulf of America.”
The move raised alarms among several advocates for the press. “Barring an AP journalist from covering an Oval Office event because the AP has not adopted President Trump's change of name to what has long been called the Gulf of Mexico is an affront to the First Amendment,” said noted attorney Floyd Abrams.
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