US News Agency AP Accuses Trump Administration of Constitutional Breach
The Associated Press (AP) has accused the Trump administration of a constitutional breach, citing the denial of access to the White House and the presidential aircraft to its journalists. The reason, according to AP, is the administration’s insistence that the Gulf of Mexico be referred to as the “Gulf of America” in AP’s reporting.
In a statement, AP said, “Journalists view the government’s actions as a violation of the First Amendment – an effort by the government to dictate what a news organization can publish and under threat of retribution.”
On Friday, the White House denied a reporter and a photographer from AP access to the presidential plane, which later flew from the military base in Andrews to Florida. “Journalists from the press pool, who had gained access, sent AP photos of nameplates with the ‘Welcome on Board’ label on empty seats” the US medium reported, characterizing the incident as a “clear escalation” by the authorities.
AP also lamented that the Trump administration has restricted access of its reporters to a series of events with the President in recent days. These included the President’s conversation with journalists in the Oval Office and a press conference with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “AP reporters and photographers have been accompanying the President as part of the press pool practically everywhere and that’s been the case for decades” the agency said.
On the same day, AP journalists were also denied access to the ceremony where the President signed executive orders, as well as a meeting with the press pool in the Oval Office.
On the same day, Taylor Budowich, the White House’s deputy director, explained that the access of AP to the White House was partly restricted because the agency refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Golf of America” as ordered by Trump in a recent decree.
Earlier, the Correspondents’ Association in the White House had condemned the decision of the Trump administration to deny AP access to a press conference with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an “unacceptable escalation” and a violation of press freedom, reported the Hill Magazine.