It could be painted as a strange sticking point, the Trump White House blocking access to the Associated Press because it refuses to acknowledge the new geographical term “Gulf of America.” It’s strange that AP would find this to be a battle over some grand principle, and it’s strange to block access for the body-of-water slight.
But Marc Caputo at Axios reports Team Trump has a broader message.
"This isn't just about the Gulf of America," White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich told Axios. "This is about AP weaponizing language through their Stylebook to push a partisan worldview in contrast with the traditional and deeply held beliefs of many Americans and many people around the world."
Naturally, the AP pretends they're not partisan or ideological. It's bad enough that Caputo claims AP has "long been considered the gold standard of neutrality." That's ridiculous. They're just as DNC-centered as the rest of the DC press.
Independent? AP headlines look like the DNC penned them. https://t.co/Fv6V1iUN3B pic.twitter.com/j68N39foIQ
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) February 13, 2025
AP communications veep Lauren Ellis claimed they're "nonpartisan" and "fact-based." Leftist outlets don't get to pretend they're exactly like they were in 1960.
But this line is the most preposterous:
It's not surprising that political parties, organizations or even individuals may disagree with some entries. The Stylebook doesn't align with any particular agenda."
There are agendas all over their word-policing. Start with transgenderism. In 2022, the AP Stylebook czars "A person’s sex and gender are usually assigned at birth by parents or attendants and can turn out to be inaccurate. Experts say gender is a spectrum, not a binary structure." You can't be less "fact-based" than this.
And the instructions were anti-Republican: "Starting in 2020, conservative-leaning U.S. state legislatures began considering a wave of bills aimed at transgender youths. Many political observers assert that the legislation is being used to motivate voters by falsely framing children as under threat.”
Later that year, AP instructed their clients not to use "late-term abortion" as if a woman never has an abortion late in their pregnancy. "Instead, use the term 'abortion later in pregnancy' if a general term is needed." An article at that time hailed Team Biden trying to "safeguard abortion access."
Administration officials are meeting Tuesday and Wednesday with state lawmakers ahead of their 2023 sessions, including in states with more extreme bans on the table, and will discuss safeguarding rights and helping women access care as top issues
The Left -- never identified by ideology -- offers "protections" and "care," and the people trying to save unborn babies are "strict" "strippers" of "rights" with their "restrictions" and "extreme bans." The AP even used the term "life-saving abortions," which is much more ridiculous than "late-term abortions."
AP has choked on "Gulf of America" because they're a "global" news agency. Their guidance to the media claimed "Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change....The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years." And lots of people changed their names (and pronouns) after decades. This is all about opposing Trump.
AP accepted Trump changing back the name of Mount McKinley since that's inside America.
