AP reporters barred from White House events over editorial style policy

Two reporters for The Associated Press were prevented from attending events at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025, in retaliation for the wire service’s editorial policy to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico despite its renaming by the administration, AP reported.

Julie Pace, AP’s senior vice president and executive editor, said in a statement that the denials happened after the newsroom received a warning, later said to have come from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

“Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office,” Pace wrote. “This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”

While an AP photographer was allowed into the Oval Office for the event, AP reported that a second reporter was also barred from a separate event in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room later that evening.

Pace condemned the denials in a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Feb. 12.

“The actions taken by the White House were plainly intended to punish the AP for the content of its speech,” Pace wrote. “It is among the most basic tenets of the First Amendment that the government cannot retaliate against the public or the press for what they say. This is viewpoint discrimination based on a news organization’s editorial choices and a clear violation of the First Amendment.”

AP’s style guidance on the name change, issued Jan. 23, advises that the Gulf of Mexico has held that name for more than 400 years and the news service must ensure that place names are recognizable to a global audience. “The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen,” the guidance reads.

The AP Stylebook is used not only by the news agency and its reporters in over 200 locations worldwide but by journalists and other writers nationally and globally. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was not able to confirm whether journalists from any other news outlets who also follow AP’s guidance were similarly barred.

CNN reporter Brian Stelter reported that an AP reporter assigned to the media pool was again blocked from entering the Oval Office for Tulsi Gabbard’s swearing-in as director of national intelligence on Feb. 12.

Leavitt defended the decision to exclude the wire service when questioned about it during a news briefing that afternoon, according to The Hill, adding that it is a “privilege to cover the White House.”

“If we feel there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,” Leavitt said. “And 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.”

The AP did not respond to a request for further comment. In her letter to Wiles, Pace wrote that it is unclear whether AP reporters will continue to be excluded from future White House events and she urged the administration not to do so.

“When journalists are blocked from doing their job, it is the American public who suffers,” Pace wrote. “The AP is prepared to vigorously defend its constitutional rights and protest the infringement on the public’s right to independent news coverage of their government and elected officials.”

Editor’s Note: This article was updated to include details about a third White House event that AP reporters were prevented from attending, as well as comments from Karoline Leavitt during a news briefing on Feb. 12, 2025.