White House battles AP over Gulf name change

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The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt accused The Associated Press of spreading “lies” during Wednesday’s press briefing, addressing the news organization’s refusal to adopt the “Gulf of America” designation for what was formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico.

The name change, which was implemented by President Donald Trump in January, has already been reflected in major mapping services including Google Maps and Apple Maps. However, the AP’s resistance to adopt the new designation has led to consequences.

In response to the AP’s stance, the White House took action by denying the news organization access to two events on Tuesday. This decision prompted criticism from various media figures, including CNN’s Brian Stelter, who accused the administration of demanding journalist compliance.

President Trump kicked the Associated Press out of the Oval Office for not complying with his Gulf of America Executive Order.

AMAZING!!! pic.twitter.com/DCkmJh43q1

— George (@BehizyTweets) February 11, 2025

“The president evidently wants journalists to obey his guidance; repeat his words; follow his rules. Outlets that don’t fall in line might lose access,” Stelter remarked, though his credibility has been questioned due to his previous mischaracterization of the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation.

The AP’s position appears inconsistent with its history of updating terminology, as demonstrated by its 2020 modification of its style guide to capitalize “Black” when referring to people.

During the Wednesday press briefing, when CNN’s Kaitlan Collins brought up the ongoing dispute, Leavitt responded firmly, asserting that media access to the Oval Office was not an inherent right.

Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt: Being a part of the press pool that gets to ask President Trump questions directly is a privilege—and one that the Associated Press lost when they refused to acknowledge the truth. It’s called the Gulf of America. pic.twitter.com/ht1w1Gu7EW

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 12, 2025

“Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions,” she stated.

Leavitt further elaborated on the administration’s position, saying: “And 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, but that is what it is. The Secretary of Interior has made that the official designation in the geographical identification name server and Apple has recognized that Google has recognized that pretty much every other outlet in this room has recognized that body of water as the Gulf of America, and it’s very important to this administration that we get that right, not just for people here at home but also for the rest of the world.”