White House Bars AP Reporter Over ‘Gulf Of Mexico’ Naming Issue

The White House Correspondents’ Association protested on Tuesday after the White House barred an Associated Press (AP) reporter from a President Donald Trump event over the news agency’s continued use of “Gulf of Mexico,” despite Trump’s executive order to rename it the “Gulf of America.”

“The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,” Eugene Daniels, president of the association, said on Tuesday in a statement posted on X.

“The move by the administration to bar a reporter from the Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable,” Daniels said.

AP Reacts

AP Executive Editor Julie Pace said in a statement earlier that its reporter had been blocked from attending an Oval Office event after being informed by the White House it would be barred unless it aligned its editorial standards with Trump’s order.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” Pace said, adding that limiting access violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing freedom of the press.

AP Stylebook

The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years and, as a global news agency, the AP will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statements by the WHCA and the AP.

Mexico’s foreign ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

‘Mexican America’

Like the U.S., Mexico has a long coastline circling the body of water.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in January jokingly suggested North America, including the United States, be renamed “Mexican America” – a historic name used on an early map of the region.

Most news organizations, including Reuters, call it the Gulf of Mexico although, where relevant, Reuters style is to include the context about Trump’s executive order.

(With inputs from Reuters)