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“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.” Reuters
The left is generally critical of the White House, arguing that banning the Associated Press violates free speech principles.
“The AP serves a global audience. President Donald Trump can call the Gulf of Mexico what he wants, but that doesn’t mean the world has to follow suit… Barring one of the country’s foundational news organizations from being part of the pool of journalists who cover the president because they aren’t using a specific term is a clear First Amendment violation…
“It looks like Trump and supposed free speech absolutist Elon Musk and all the hysterical conservatives who just moments ago abhorred any form of censorship are now 100% chill with the government banning words.”
Rex Huppke, USA Today
“This isn’t just about rebranding a body of water. Rather, this is about a White House that’s waging an aggressive campaign against the free press, and in this instance, is also trying to bully one of the nation’s leading news organizations into submission… Welcome to the exciting new era for the First Amendment, in which people and businesses are free to use the words and phrases that Republicans like — or there will be consequences.”
Steve Benen, MSNBC
“If Trump, or any U.S. leader, can unilaterally rename a major international feature and have it reflected in digital cartography, China will take note. And unlike Trump’s transparent attempt at nationalist theater, Beijing’s territorial renaming efforts carry far more serious implications. China has long used maps as a tool of statecraft…
“In the South China Sea, it has renamed dozens of geographical features, reinforcing its claims over contested waters. In 2023, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources issued new names for eight Russian cities in the Far East… For China, these are not arbitrary gestures. They are part of a deliberate strategy to reshape international narratives.”
Brian O’Neill, The Contrarian
Some argue, “A huge share of Trump’s actions over the past four weeks fall somewhere on the spectrum from ‘legally questionable’ to ‘plainly unconstitutional.’ The ‘Gulf of America’ rebrand is not one of them…
“[Trump used] the same legal authority under which the Obama administration changed the name ‘Mt. McKinley’ to ‘Denali.’ In fact, if Barack Obama hadn’t done that, we probably wouldn’t be talking about the body of water between Mexico and Florida today.… In a democracy, values are determined by majority rule, and they don’t shift in only one direction… The ‘Gulf of America’ is the wrong fight to pick.”
Gilad Edelman, The Atlantic
The right is critical of the Associated Press, arguing that it is biased in favor of Democrats.
The right is critical of the Associated Press, arguing that it is biased in favor of Democrats.
“The AP has long since abandoned any pretense of being a neutral news organization. It has become filled with left-wing bias and engaged in its own Orwellian manipulation of language to further progressive ideology, not to mention its regular habit of passing off Hamas propaganda as news…
“What’s frustrating in all of this is that, the way things work these days, one side demands that you point and laugh and cheer the ouster of the AP from official White House events, and another side demands that you condemn, on principle, the draconian word-policing going on by the administration…
“That leaves no room for those who believe that the administration is going way overboard in its pettiness but who also have a tough time coming to the defense of a news organization that gives condescending lectures about journalistic ethics while routinely and uncritically citing casualty statistics from a terrorist group. In sum, the AP has no real claim to a slot at every Oval Office event, but access decisions shouldn’t hinge on whether news organizations use the government-approved term for a body of water.”
Philip Klein, National Review
“This is the AP we are talking about, the outlet that uses its stylebook for leftist activist causes in its reporting. They have told us that it is required to use a capitalized ‘B’ for blacks, but just the lower case ‘W’ when describing whites. It also has mandated that ‘illegal immigrants’ is not proper, because while the act of entering the country can be described as ‘illegal,’ it cannot apply to the individual. (This is like saying you can commit a car theft, but that does not make you a thief.)”
Brad Slager, RedState
“If every American news organization had a constitutional right to be on AF1, it would never get off the ground… The First Amendment does many wonderful things. One of the things it does not do is guarantee a news organization a seat on AF1 or in the White House briefing room. Denying either or both does not, in fact, negate the freedom of the press; the AP is still free to publish whatever it wants…
“Is the Gulf of America née Mexico fight with the AP petty? Yes. Is it provocative? Sure. Is it stupid? I wouldn't go that far, but of all the issues on my priority list, the ‘Gulf of America’ ranks around 14,383rd, its estimated top depth. (That's from the Encyclopedia [Britannica], which wisely uses both names in its listing. Maybe they can take the AP seat on the plane!) But then again, I'm not the president, and 77,300,000-plus people didn't choose me for that job.”
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
