Posted on 02/12/2025 12:22:41 PM PST by Signalman
President Donald Trump is holding media outlets accountable for refusing to abide by his executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. He even shut one of the world’s biggest news sources out of a Tuesday evening news conference.
News outlets and private companies alike have rushed to insert the body of water’s new name into their lexicon. During an earnings call earlier this month, Chevron cited the Gulf of America while speaking about its offshore drilling activities. The Google and Apple map apps both display the Gulf of America.
In order to receive access to White House press briefings, the Trump administration has ordered outlets to begin using the phrase in their coverage. That didn’t sit well with the Associated Press; now, they no longer have a seat in the White House.
“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 Julie Pace, the executive editor of AP, according to the Western Journal.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” Pace said. “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.”
“Today our @AP White House reporter was denied access to the Oval Office because the Associated Press recognizes the international body of water on our southern coastline as the Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging President Donald Trump’s order to rename it the Gulf of America,” AP correspondent Tara Copp posted on X.
The AP, one of the world’s most widely recognized sources of journalism, defended its decision to abide by the body of water’s old name.
“As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences,” its style guide explained, saying the AP “will refer to [the Gulf of Mexico] by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.” The AP’s justification is that the gulf has carried the Gulf of Mexico name for “more than 400 years” and that other countries and international bodies do not have to recognize the name change.
“Punishing journalists for not adopting state-mandated terminology is an alarming attack on press freedom,” the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression added. “That’s viewpoint discrimination, and it’s unconstitutional. President Trump has the authority to change how the U.S. government refers to the Gulf. But he cannot punish a news organization for using another term.”
For resisting the change, AP reporters missed the opportunity to hear President Trump and Elon Musk explain some of the federal government’s most antiquated systems while together in the Oval Office. Musk took several minutes to reveal how the government’s retirement system cannot handle more than 10,000 applications per month and requires the use of paper records stored in a byzantine former limestone mine.
In his January executive order establishing the Gulf of America, President Trump wrote that the gulf “is a vital region for the multi-billion-dollar U.S. maritime industry, providing some of the largest and most impressive ports in the world. The Gulf will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping America’s future and the global economy, and in recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that it officially be renamed the Gulf of America.”
Yeah, right! I disagree with one thing therefore I do not like him. Trump is a great president—one of the greatest—but he is not God. 100% agreement is not a litmus test of support.
Yep...There is is...As if anyone said or implied he was.
Thanks for your ID slick.
It would seem that you think so if disagreeing with him on anything makes someone a Trump opponent.
What a joke!
I see, so based on this short exchange you now claim it seems I think Trump is God. Good grief...
What a poser you are!
Please, tell us why?
Because Gulf of Mexico is a long standing and universally recognized name. It does imply Mexican ownership and there was no need to change it. Changing its name only makes us look petty.
Now ban all news orgs who refuse to say PRESIDENT Trump.
So many of those dirtbags refer to him only as Trump while they fellate ‘President Biden’, ‘Former President Clinton’ and ‘Former President Obama’.
Pam Bondi certainly knows how to slap ‘em down and put them in their place.
So what? There is a new boss in town and millions of Americans love the change. It's not stupid as you stated.
And the only reason you stated that is you don't like Trump. We both know that. And the overall majority of those who do not like it, are American hating leftist, Communist and assorted posers.
Looks like you're in good company Petros...
And most likely will be again once Trump leaves office if democrats get control
Disagree. AP has had a stranglehold on propaganda for decades. The Gulf doesn’t belong to just Mexico.
It was a good move and good for North, Central, and South America
I think the last four years and maybe more than that going back to Bush the elder has been a gradual assault on the culture.
To think there would not be a cultural counter assault is naive.
BINGO!!!!
Explaining things to a Zeeper probably goes in one ear and out the other...
I think the last four years and maybe more than that going back to Bush the elder has been a gradual assault on the culture.
To think there would not be a cultural counter assault is naive.
I certainly agree about the obvious assault on the culture, but I’m not sure how renaming the gulf is a counter strike. I lived within a few miles of the gulf for 47 years and never gave its old name a second thought, and the new name doesn’t make me feel any better about the decades-long cultural assault. However, if it negates a leftard ban on drilling there, the change was well worth doing.
Hisrorically Gulf of Mexico.
Chamging names for politics is stupid. Learn from history,do not rewrite it.
It is petty and stupid for the AP to not change their stylebook.
Watch out. You will be accused of hating Trump.
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