• by Ray Schultz , February 23, 2025

The move by the White House to block Associated Press reporters from events over AP's refusal to use the name “Gulf of America” is on its way to court.

An AP photographer had been blocked from boarding Air Force One, and an AP reporter was excluded from an executive order signing.

The suit names Susan Wiles, chief of staff, Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff, and Karoline Leavitt, press secretary. 

“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,” AP argues in the suit on file with the U.S. District Court for the District of Washington. 

The dispute began when President Trump declared in an executive order that the Gulf of Mexico would now be called the Gulf of America. 

AP wrote: “The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. 

But the White House insists on the new name. “The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America,” White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich wrote in a post on X last week.