The White House on Thursday blocked an Associated Press reporter from attending and reporting on an event there for a third straight day over the outlet's refusal to recognize the Gulf of America, the media organization said.
AP Executive Editor Julie Pace released a statement assailing the decision "in the strongest terms" after the outlet was blocked from covering Thursday's news conference with President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
"The decision by the White House to block an AP reporter from an open press conference with President Trump and Prime Minister Modi is a deeply troubling escalation of the administration's efforts to punish The Associated Press for its editorial decisions," Pace wrote.
The White House said Wednesday that news organizations that refuse to use Trump's new name for the Gulf of Mexico were telling "lies" and insisted it would continue to bar Associated Press journalists from presidential events.
Trump has decreed that the body of water be called the Gulf of America. In its stylebook, the AP said it would continue to use Gulf of Mexico.
In a letter Pace wrote to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles on Wednesday, Pace said that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt met with an AP reporter earlier on Tuesday and stated that AP's access to the Oval Office would be restricted if the outlet did not immediately "align its editorial standards" with Trump's executive order.
"This is now the third day AP reporters have been barred from covering the president ... an incredible disservice to the billions of people who rely on The Associated Press for nonpartisan news," Pace wrote Thursday.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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