Headline Roundup • February 13th, 2025
White House Blocks AP from Oval Office Over 'Gulf of America' Stance
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The White House has banned the Associated Press (Left bias) from the Oval Office over AP's refusal to use "Gulf of America."
Key Details: On January 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America," saying the Gulf shares borders between Mexico and the United States. The AP has not changed its stylebook entry for Gulf of Mexico to "Gulf of America," and was blocked from attending two of President Trump's press availabilities for this reason.
Key Quotes: The actions “were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” wrote Jule Pace, AP's Executive Editor. "The AP is prepared to vigorously defend its constitutional rights and protest the infringement on the public’s right to independent news coverage of their government and elected officials.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office."
For Context: In its 1972 Branzburg vs. Hayes ruling, the Supreme Court found that journalists have no right to insist on greater access than the general public. Journalists, however, do have a right not be to retaliated against.
How The Media Covered It: The New York Times (Lean Left bias) noted that the AP is accusing the White House of violating the First Amendment and freedom of the press. Some sources on the right, such as the Washington Times (Lean Right bias), view the AP as hating Trump.
Featured Coverage of this Story
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The White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from entering the Oval Office on Tuesday over the AP’s refusal to use “Gulf of America,” the Associated Press said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
The Associated Press crafts a stylebook that many newsrooms across the world religiously adhere to — for example, the AP style guide recommends using “gender-affirming care” to describe transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers, even when discussing minors, and to use the phrase “pregnant people” and “people seeking abortions” to describe women seeking to abort their unborn babies.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended a decision by the White House on Tuesday to keep The Associated Press out of the pool of reporters allowed inside the Oval Office to cover an executive order signing with President Trump and billionaire Elon Musk.
“We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office,” Leavitt said during a briefing with reporters on Wednesday when asked about the move, calling it a “privilege to cover the White House.”
The AP on Tuesday said it had been blocked from covering two White House events over its...
Out with the oldspeak. In with President Trump’s newspeak — or else.
That’s the apparent message as the Trump White House tries to punish a preeminent news outlet for its editorial decision-making.
On Tuesday the White House broke with decades of precedent and blocked Associated Press reporters from attending two of President Trump’s media availabilities. The AP said it was blocked because it hasn’t changed its stylebook entry for Gulf of Mexico to “Gulf of America.”
On Wednesday afternoon it happened again. The AP reporter was banned when Trump held...
