The Associated Press Sues Trump Officials: The Fight for Free Speech
The Associated Press has sued three Trump officials over their decision to punish the AP for refusing to use the phrase "the Gulf of Mexico." The First Amendment must stand.
In the first salvo in the fight for free speech against the Trump administration, the Associated Press (AP) officially sued three administration officials earlier this Friday.1 The lawsuit is in response to the Trump administration’s ridiculous decision to bar the AP from the White House press pool until it changed its style guide to identify the Gulf of Mexico as “the Gulf of America.”2 Let’s be clear: The Trump administration’s decision to bar the Associated Press from the White House press pool is an attack on Free Speech.
Attacking the Press
The renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the jingoistic “Gulf of America” is symbolic at best and ridiculous at worst. The idea of a compulsory name for the Gulf is inherently farcical because it is an international body of water and doesn’t belong to the United States or any singular country. In response to the executive order by President Trump renaming the Gulf, the Associated Press’ Amanda Barrlett rightly noted:
“The body of water has shared borders between the U.S. and Mexico. Trump’s order only carries authority within the United States. 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. 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.” 3
The Associated Press’ guide necessarily reflects the commonly used term for the Gulf, and no amount of nationalistic fervor can justify suppressing that perspective. It is well within their rights to use a term that angers the current administration. In their complaint, the Associated Press noted that:
“In an email to the AP on February 18, 2025, White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles explained “why we arrived in this point.” Wiles wrote that the White House was targeting the AP because its Stylebook “is used by many as a standard for writing and editing,” and that it “advises journalists, scholars and classrooms around our country.” Wiles finished her email by noting, “we remain hopeful that the name of the [Gulf] will be appropriately reflected in the Stylebook where American audiences are concerned,” implying that the AP could change its guidance as to American audiences to resolve the issue and restore its access.” 4
Read the Associated Press’ complaint here.
The clear and present danger is that the White House is attempting to suppress a newspaper's decisions regarding its ability to communicate with an international audience and the American people. By setting the stage for controlling the speech of a major media outlet like the Associated Press, the administration is preparing for larger, more dangerous attempts to suppress speech critical of its authority. This is fascist garbage, and it must not stand.
This is not the Trump administration's first attempt to restrict the press for its coverage. In his own coverage of the attack on the Associated Press, Jim Acosta recounted how the first Trump administration attempted to seize his press pass.5 Spoiler alert: Trump lost that case.6 However, as Acosta warns, this is not simply a matter of vindicative pettiness. Rather, the Trump administration’s decision is “an effort designed to divide the D.C. press corps.”
Trump is trying to destroy the press so it can’t oppose him, and he is doing it by turning it against itself. The Press must resist.
Conclusion
While the Trump administration continues to undermine the institutions of good government and the effective application of public services, he is also working to undermine the press—and through their downfall—he seeks to create an uninformed public. If the American people are to remain an informed and effective citizenry, they must be able to resist such infringements on the press. Whether or not you are a Democrat or a Republican—or anything in between—it is imperative that YOU oppose it. We can’t allow any government to harm the freedom of the press.
David Bauder, “AP Sues 3 Trump Administration Officials, Citing Freedom of Speech,” AP News, February 21, 2025, sec. Politics, https://apnews.com/article/ap-lawsuit-trump-administration-officials-0352075501b779b8b187667f3427e0e8.
Amanda Barrett, “AP Style Guidance on Gulf of Mexico, Mount McKinley,” The Associated Press, January 23, 2025, https://www.ap.org/the-definitive-source/announcements/ap-style-guidance-on-gulf-of-mexico-mount-mckinley/.
Amanda Barrett, “AP Style Guidance on Gulf of Mexico, Mount McKinley,” The Associated Press, January 23, 2025.
Associated Press v. Budowich et al., (2025)., pg. 3. https://www.ap.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AP-v.-Budowich-Complaint.pdf
Jim Acosta, “Trump White House Harassment of the Associated Press Cannot Stand,” Substack newsletter, The Jim Acosta Show (blog), February 16, 2025, Substack.
Kathryn Watson, “Jim Acosta Press Pass Ruling: White House Ordered to Return Press Pass after Revoking CNN Anchor’s Hard Pass Last Week - CBS News,” CBS News, November 16, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cnn-lawsuit-ruling-jim-acosta-can-keep-his-press-pass/.