Trump restricts AP access over Gulf of Mexico issue

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(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will block the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One until the news agency stops referring to the Gulf of Mexico.

Trump signed an executive order in January directing the Interior Department to change the name of the body of water to the Gulf of America. The AP, citing editorial standards, said it would continue to use the gulf’s established name.

The White House has kept the AP out of several press pool gatherings during the past week, calling the news agency’s decision divisive and misinformation.

“We’re going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it’s the Gulf of America,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Tuesday in his first public comments on the issue.

The agency has retained access to the White House complex itself.

The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. As a global news agency, the AP says it will refer to the gulf by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.

“This is about the government telling the public and press what words to use and retaliating if they do not follow government orders,” said AP spokesperson Lauren Easton.

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which represents journalists covering the president, has protested the Trump administration’s actions against the AP.

Most news organizations, including Reuters, continue to call the body of water the Gulf of Mexico, although, where relevant, Reuters style is to include the context about Trump’s executive order.

“Reuters stands with the Associated Press and other media organizations in objecting to coverage restrictions imposed by the White House on the AP, because of the AP’s independent editorial decisions,” Reuters said in a statement on Saturday.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)