AP reporter barred from WH event for refusing to acknowledge Gulf of America, news agency says

The White House banned an Associated Press reporter from attending an executive-order signing in the Oval Office on Tuesday — in protest of the outlet’s style guidance on the Gulf of America, the news agency said.“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,” the AP’s executive editor, Julie Pace, said in a statement.“This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”The outlet manages the “Associated Press Stylebook,” which is widely used by media publications across the country for guidance on abbreviations, spelling, references and more.Much to the chagrin of the White House, the AP has refrained from updating its style guidance to change the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.The White House did not respond to questions from The Post about the incident.“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” Pace saidd.“Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.”The AP defended its refusal to change its guidance for the Gulf of America by arguing that the body of water has been called the Gulf of Mexico for “more than 400 years” and other international groups have not acknowledged the change.Tuesday’s executive-order signing by Trump involved him instructing federal department heads to develop plans for “large-scale reductions in force.” Under the policy, the government can only hire for a position if four people leave.Trump, 78, signed the executive order accompanied by Department of Government Efficiency boss Elon Musk, who donned a dark MAGA hat and brought his young son X Æ A-Xii with him.Typically,...