• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, February 12, 2025

There goes the old man again, prattling on about the AP Stylebook.  

Some of us adhere to it because it addresses most style issues. And I would like to point out the proper name for a certain body of water. It’s called the Gulf of Mexico. Not the Gulf of America nor the Gulf of Cuba or the Gulf of Florida.

As you probably heard, the President of the United states has decreed that the sea to the South of us shall henceforth be called the Gulf of America. And he has punished AP for using the old name by excluding it from an executive order signing.  

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” says Julie Pace, the executive editor of AP. “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.” 

As AP observed in January, the executive order to call it the Gulf of America “only carries authority” in the United States.  

Of course, anybody can call it whatever they want. What’s in a name, anyway? Elon Musk now calls Twitter “X.” But there should be some kind of process, and respect for historical precedent. 

“The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years,” AP writes. “The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.”

Good old AP.