White House Curbs AP Access to Oval Office, Air Force One Amid Gulf of America Naming Dispute

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on Feb. 12, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The White House has announced new restrictions on Associated Press journalists’ access to the Oval Office and Air Force One, citing an ongoing dispute over the wire service’s refusal to adopt the administration’s official terminology for the body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico but now renamed the Gulf of America.

“The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich said in a statement on social media on Feb. 14.

“This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press’ commitment to misinformation. While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One.”

Budowich said that AP journalists and photographers would keep their credentials for the White House complex but face restrictions on the Oval Office and Air Force One, while “the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration” would now have an opportunity at access.

The White House’s new policy follows escalating tensions over Jan. 23 AP guidance on President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. The AP stated that it would refer to the body of water “by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen,” citing the fact that Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States and that AP is a global news agency that disseminates its reports around the world and “must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.” The administration objected, calling the move a deliberate effort to undermine the official designation.

As of this week, AP journalists and photographers have been excluded from covering multiple White House events, including two separate engagements on Tuesday—one in the Oval Office and another in the Diplomatic Reception Room—after refusing to alter their style guide.

AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Julie Pace condemned the restrictions, calling them an unacceptable violation of free speech.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” Pace said in a statement. “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.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the administration’s stance in a Feb. 12 press briefing, reiterating 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.”

Leavitt said that the media access to White House spaces is a “privilege,” adding, “If we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable.”

The dispute escalated further on Thursday when the White House blocked an AP journalist from covering a news conference with Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Eugene Daniels, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, issued a statement in response, expressing support for AP.

“The White House is seeking to curtail the press freedoms enshrined in our Constitution and has admitted publicly they are restricting access to events to punish a news outlet for not advancing the government’s preferred language,” Daniels said in a statement. “Prohibiting journalists from access because of their editorial decisions is viewpoint discrimination.

“This is a textbook violation of not only the First Amendment but the president’s own executive order on freedom of speech and ending federal censorship. We again call on the White House to immediately reverse course and restore access to AP journalists.”

In response to a request for comment on Daniels’s allegations, the White House pointed to Budowich’s statement citing AP’s freedom to report as it chooses while reiterating the Trump administration’s view that it is not obligated to provide access to limited spaces, which it described as a “privilege.”