President Donald Trump reiterated Tuesday that he plans to bar Associated Press reporters from covering the White House with the rest of the pooled press until the news agency decides to use “Gulf of America” in place of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Associated Press has been excluded from press conferences and from flying on Air Force One since Trump issued an executive order earlier this month renaming the Gulf.
Responding to a reporter’s question at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort home, Trump said he also does not agree with certain other phrases the AP uses — or does not use, such as “illegal immigrant.”
“I do think that some of the phrases that they want to use are ridiculous and, frankly, they’ve become obsolete in the last three weeks,” Trump said without listing any examples of his own.
“The Associated Press just refuses to go with what the law is and what has taken place,” he added.
Some companies like Google and Apple have changed the Gulf’s name on their maps. But Trump cannot force the name on other nations or other entities outside the federal government. His executive order also does not constitute a “law,” because legislation requires an act of Congress.
The president does, however, have the right to rename geographic features within the country, as former President Barack Obama did in 2015 to change the name of Mount McKinley to Denali — a move Trump reversed.
The Associated Press, citing its status as a major international wire service, has opted to stick primarily with Gulf of Mexico, while noting Trump’s change where space permits. In January, the AP said that Trump’s new name “only carries authority” in the United States.
“The Associated Press has been very, very wrong on the election, on Trump and the treatment of Trump, and other things having to do with Trump, and Republicans and conservatives,” Trump later said while answering the reporter’s question. “And they’re doing us no favors, and I guess I’m not doing them any favors. That’s the way life works.”
On Friday, the AP hit back on the Trump administration’s attacks, citing constitutional freedoms.
“Freedom of speech is a pillar of American democracy and a core value of the American people. The White House has said it supports these principles,” AP spokeswoman Lauren Easton said. “The actions taken to restrict AP’s coverage of presidential events because of how we refer to a geographic location chip away at this important right enshrined in the U.S. Constitution for all Americans.”
The AP has been a part of the coalition of reporters from various outlets that make up the White House pool for decades.