Trump White House bans AP from press events over Gulf of America editorial dispute

On February 11, 2025, the Trump White House informed the Associated Press that its reporters would be barred from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other press pool events unless the AP began using Trump's preferred term "Gulf of America" instead of Gulf of Mexico in its news coverage. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said AP was spreading "lies" by not adopting the non-internationally-recognized name. The AP is a global wire service used by 15,000+ news outlets worldwide. The AP filed a federal lawsuit on February 21. A federal judge ordered the White House to restore AP's access on April 8, ruling the ban violated the First Amendment. Press freedom organizations called the ban an unprecedented use of access denial to punish a news outlet for independent editorial decisions.