Updated February 21, 2025 at 23:36 PM ET
The Associated Press has sued the Trump administration for barring it from major presidential events over its refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
President Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office renaming the Gulf which directly affects usage by the federal government but holds no force outside the U.S.
The AP says its guidance recommends that its journalists and the news organizations that rely on it reflect the Gulf's historic name, but acknowledge Trump's desired shift in language. In its Friday lawsuit, the AP said that the White House's retaliation is a threat to freedom.
"The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government," reads the AP's lawsuit, filed by attorneys from the Ballard Spahr law firm. "The Constitution does not allow the government to control speech. Allowing such government control and retaliation to stand is a threat to every American's freedom."
The news agency says its journalists remained blocked from major events at the Oval Office, Air Force One, Trump's private estate in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, and other spots where journalists with White House press credentials are routinely welcomed.
The White House issued a fiery rejection of the AP's argument in a statement shared with NPR on Friday evening, calling the case "frivolous and demented" and characterizing the news agency's reporters as ideological. "They are clearly suffering from a severe, debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted their peanut-sized brains," White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
Cheung said the White House will prevail in court, thought Trump said Thursday, in remarks anticipating a legal challenge from AP, that the administration could lose.
"Doesn't matter," Trump said in addressing Republican governors. "It's just something that we feel strongly about."
Banned from press conference with Indian prime minister
Such events as Trump's press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were off limits to AP reporters, as was Trump's press conference at which he explained he would keep the ban on AP reporters to key events in place.
The AP's lawsuit says it has "participated in the White House press pool since its creation over a century ago." The news agency says "that has made it possible for the AP to deliver to the public timely and thorough reporting on the president almost everywhere he goes, which is information critical to the public."
The AP serves audiences and news organizations across the globe.
After it was barred, media outlets embarked on a flurry of private appeals and protests to resolve the matter, even as both sides indicated they would not budge.
On Tuesday, Trump told reporters, "We're going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it's the Gulf of America."
The next day, AP Executive Editor Julie Pace met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in Florida. While neither side commented about the meeting, the AP reiterated its intent to maintain its independent editorial decision.
The White House Correspondents Association weighed in this week to urge that Trump and his aides reconsider. Trump-friendly Fox News has supported its stance, through the correspondents association.
White House press secretary: 'We feel we are in the right'
On Friday, in an appearance at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she'll see the AP in court.
"We feel we are in the right in this position," Leavitt said. "I said in my first briefing at the podium we are going to ensure that truth and accuracy is present at that White House every single day."
But the action has been consistent with other measures taken across the new administration. Several agencies have taken steps to identify and cancel news subscriptions. Under Defense Secretary and former Fox star Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon dislodged eight news organizations, including NPR, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN and NBC, from long-held work stations. The Federal Communications Commission's new chairperson has initiated investigations of all the major television networks (save Rupert Murdoch's Fox) and NPR.
Deputy White House Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich wrote last week that the AP's decision on the Gulf "exposes the Associated Press' commitment to misinformation."
"While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment," he continued, "it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces."
Earlier this week, Trump said, "the Associated Press, as you know, has been very, very wrong on the [2020] election, on Trump, and the treatment of Trump, and other things having to do with Trump and Republicans and conservatives."
"They're doing us no favors," Trump said at the press conference, held at Mar-a-Lago. "And I guess I'm not doing them any favors." The AP was barred from that session as well.
The lawsuit filed by AP argues the ban on its journalists violates the due process clause contained in the Bill of Rights, citing a 1977 D.C. Circuit Court ruling that journalists' "first amendment interest" in access to the White House "undoubtedly qualifies as liberty which may not be denied without due process of law under the fifth amendment."
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