The Real Reason Trump Has Gone to War With the Associated Press

The White House said its ongoing war of words with the Associated Press extends beyond a dispute over President Donald Trump’s controversial rechristening of the Gulf of Mexico.

The Trump administration, which blocked AP reporters from media events in recent days, said it has had issues with the news agency even before it refused to adopt the new name of “Gulf of America” for the body of water in its style guide.

“This isn’t just about the Gulf of America,” Taylor Budowich, a White House deputy chief of staff, 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.”

The AP Stylebook is considered the leading style and usage guide for American English grammar in journalism. Academic institutions, journalism schools, and even other media outlets take their cues from the AP.

In recent years, the organization has made several updates that have enraged conservatives, particularly the grievance-based, anti-DEI segment of the movement.

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In 2020, the AP began capitalizing the word Black when it refers to race, but not white, owing to the fact that white people “do not share the same history and culture, or the experience of being discriminated against because of skin color.”

The AP capitalizes white ethnic groups, like Italian Americans or Irish Americans, owing to their shared heritage and culture.

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Trump’s administration, meanwhile, has worked feverishly to dismantle federal programs and initiatives that promoted “diversity, equity, and inclusion” programs, which the president called “illegal and immoral discrimination.”

The Stylebook also rejects the use of the term “illegal immigrant,” opting for the word “illegal only to refer to an action, not a person. AP generally refers to ”immigrants without legal status."

Trump, of course, has exhibited no shame in his attacks on migrants, who he has called “animals” and said are “poisoning the blood of our country.”

His administration has also revived the use of the term “illegal alien” in official government communications.

The Trump White House, however, reached its breaking point with the news agency when it did not follow Trump’s executive order that said the government would refer to the oceanic basin bounded by the U.S. Gulf Coast and several Mexican states as the “Gulf of America.”

The AP said would continue to use the original name — which is still recognized internationally and by scientific groups — “while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.”

Budowich accused the AP last week of “misinformation” over its refusal to concede to Trump’s “lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America.”

“While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, the AP accused the White House of violating the First Amendment, which not only protects freedom of speech, but freedom of the press.

“It is a privilege to cover this White House,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week. “Nobody has a right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions.”