President Donald Trump reiterated his stance on banning the Associated Press from critical White House spaces, vowing to keep the news organization excluded until it agrees to refer to the body of water formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
“We are gonna keep them out until such time that they agree that it’s the Gulf of America,” Trump told reporters during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday. “We’re very proud of this country, and we want it to be the Gulf of America.”
“The Associated Press just refuses to go with what the law is and what has taken place,” the president added, referencing an executive order he signed earlier this month that officially changed the name of the gulf. “I have the right to do it,” he asserted.
The body of water’s previous name is widely recognized by other nations and many of the AP’s readership. The Associated Press policy still refers to it as the Gulf of Mexico on first reference.
In a recent statement, the AP expressed concern over the exclusion, saying, “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 White House Correspondents’ Association, along with several press freedom organizations, has criticized the Trump administration’s stance and called for a reconsideration of the decision.
Trump acknowledged the standoff with the AP, stating that both sides had reached an impasse. “They’re doing us no favors, and I guess I’m not doing them any favors,” Trump remarked. “That’s the way life works.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the issue of the AP’s exclusion during a press briefing last week, emphasizing that the White House reserves the right to control access.
“Nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions,” Leavitt stated. “That’s an invitation that is given, and there are hundreds of outlets on this campus, many of you in this room, who don’t have the privilege of being part of that pool every single day and getting to ask the president questions. We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office, and you all have credentials to be here, including the Associated Press, who is in this briefing room today.”
Leavitt also expressed that she was “very upfront” in her initial press briefing, making it clear that any lies pushed by media outlets would be held 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,” Leavitt stated. “The Secretary of Interior has made that the official designation in the geographical identification name server. Apple has recognized that, Google has recognized that, pretty much every other outlet in this room has recognized that body of water as the Gulf of America, 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.”
{Matzav.com}