The White House Bans Reporter from Oval Office Event – Here's Why

The Executive Editor of the news outlet Associated Press has released a statement addressing the ban of one of the news site's reporters from an event at the Oval Office.

According to a recent report, the White House recently denied access to an Associated Press (AP) reporter for an event in the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon after the news organization did not change its terminology regarding the Gulf of Mexico.

President Donald Trump had reportedly ordered that the body of water be renamed the "Gulf of America," and the AP was asked to reflect this change in its reporting.

The unnamed AP reporter was prevented from entering the White House event as they normally would. Later that same day, a second AP journalist was also barred from attending another event held in the Diplomatic Reception Room. The AP has not disclosed the identity of the reporters involved.

In response to the ban, the AP has publicly condemned the White House's decision to bar its reporters from the Oval Office event after they did not adhere to the editorial demand from the Trump administration.

In a statement released Tuesday, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace emphasized the organization's commitment to delivering factual and nonpartisan journalism to a global audience.

Pace revealed that the White House had informed AP that failure to comply with Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America would result in restricted access to official events.

She described the move as alarming, arguing that the administration's actions amount to punishment for independent journalism.

Pace further asserted that restricting AP's access based on editorial decisions not only undermines press freedom but also violates the First Amendment, which protects free speech and a free press.

Instead of following the executive order to change the name in their editorial operations, AP has decided to keep referring to the Gulf of Mexico as its original name. However, they will do so while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.

Addressing the ban of AP staff from the Oval Office during a press conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke out about the administration's decision.

In response to a journalist's question about who was responsible for the ban, Leavitt stated, "Well, first of all, let me just set the record straight. It is a privilege to cover this White House. It is a privilege to be the White House press secretary, and nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the President of the United States questions, that's an invitation that is given."

She elaborated, "We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office." As soon as Leavitt concluded her statement, numerous reporters from different outlets raised their hands to respond.

The same journalist who put forward the initial inquiry about the ban questioned whether the White House's decision was retaliatory. She added, "There's a reason the AP was barred, which they said was because they're not using the phrase, Gulf of America, they're using Gulf of Mexico, in line with their standards."

She continued, "And so the question here is, is this setting a precedent that this White House will retaliate against reporters who don't use the language that you guys believe reporters should use? And how does that align with the First Amendment commitment that you were just talking about?"

Leavitt rebutted the reporter's assertions by reiterating how she had been very clear that should the Trump administration feel as though outlets are pushing lies, they will hold such accountable.

"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," insisted Leavitt.

She added, "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 [...] 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."

Trump's order to change the region's name comes just over a month after he first made the public aware of his intention to do so. Video footage captured on January 7, 2025, by media outlet ABC, shows the moment the president addressed the press about the matter.

"We're going to be announcing at a future date, pretty soon we're going to change—because we do most of the work there and it's ours—we're going to be changing—sort of the opposite of Biden, where he's closing everything up, essentially getting rid of 50 to 60 trillion dollars' worth of assets—we're gonna be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America," announced Trump.

He also noted his belief in the new name having a "beautiful ring" to it, adding, "That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name, and it's appropriate, it's appropriate."

According to a YouTube post shared by Fox 5 Atlanta, weeks after his initial reflections on the name change, Trump declared February 9 to be Gulf of America Day.

Seated comfortably on a plane flying over the region, alongside two administration officials, Trump nodded along as one of them confirmed the validity of the change. The official noted how the parties involved had already reached out to the necessary map providers ensuring that the declaration was followed.

Trump then proudly held up the executive order he signed for the media to capture the moment. Behind him was a photo of a map of the Gulf of Mexico with the words Gulf of America strewn across the poster.

A voice in the background could be heard asking Trump if he had spoken to Mexico about this change, to which he responded, "Actually, interestingly, I've never spoken to them about it. It was our call and I had not spoken to them about—I've spoken to them about many other things [...] They've never brought it up, I'm a little surprised at that."