NEW YORK — The White House said Wednesday that news organizations 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 recognizable 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 organizations.
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.”
The White House pointed out that the AP was allowed into its briefing Wednesday but continued to take issue with the sty