The Trump White House has officially banned The Associated Press from attending Oval Office and Air Force One briefings due to the outlet’s refusal to acknowledge the recent renaming of the Gulf of America.
You can either accept and report the news – or you can lose the privilege of knowing such news firsthand. It’s that simple.
On Friday morning, White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary Taylor Budowich announced that AP journalists will still retain general White House credentials, however, they will no longer have access to exclusive presidential settings.
“The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America,” Budowich wrote on X. “This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press’ commitment to misinformation.”
“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.” he continued, nothing that the administration will allow access to journalists who have previously been “barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration.”
Trending Politics reports:
The decision is one of the most aggressive media restrictions imposed by President Trump’s administration in his second term. Trump has long been critical of mainstream media outlets, frequently accusing them of bias and dishonesty.
Earlier in the week, the White House denied access to an Associated Press reporter for an Oval Office event Tuesday, following a demand from the administration that the news agency change its terminology for the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” as per President Donald Trump’s directive.
A second AP reporter was also barred from attending a later event in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room. The exclusion came after Trump administration officials had earlier threatened such action unless the AP altered its terminology regarding the Gulf.
On Tuesday, Associated Press Executive Editor Julie Pace said, “As a global news organization, The Associated Press informs billions of people around the world every day with factual, nonpartisan journalism. 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. 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,” Pace added.
On Tuesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Leavitt declared, “Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions.” She added, “We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office.”
