Trump Bans AP Journalists From Oval Office for Not Using the Name ‘Gulf of America’
U.S. President Donald Trump, Feb. 2025. X/ @previouslife17
February 12, 2025 Hour: 8:53 am
Currently, U.S.-based users of Google Maps find this ocean basin under the name of the ‘Gulf of America’.
On Tuesday, the Associated Press (AP) was barred from an event with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House for not using the term ‘Gulf of America’ to refer to the Gulf of Mexico.
RELATED:
USAID Funds Fueled Media Narratives Against Venezuela
“Today, we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office. This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing,” said AP’s Executive Editor Julie Pace.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism. 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,” she added.
In its style guide, the Associated Press decided to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico by its original name, as it is a body of water shared by several countries in the Americas. The AP style guide, however, mentions Trump’s new chosen name.
“Trump’s order only has authority within the United States. Neither Mexico, other countries, nor international organizations are obligated to recognize the name change… As a global news agency that distributes information worldwide, AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” the Associated Press pointed out.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) said that barring the AP journalist is unacceptable and demanded that the Trump administration immediately rectify the situation. “The White House cannot dictate how the media reports the news, nor should it punish journalists for disagreeing with their editors’ decisions,” the WHCA stated.
Meanwhile, Google Maps changed the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America for users in the United States while maintaining the original name for users in Mexico. Google also stated that users elsewhere in the world will see both labels.
Google said it began implementing the change after the U.S. government’s Geographic Names Information System listed an update to the Gulf’s name under President Donald Trump’s executive order to “restore names that honor American greatness.”
teleSUR/ JF Sources: EFE – Xinhua
