The White House on Tuesday blocked an Associated Press (AP) reporter from attending a press briefing in the Oval Office, after the AP refused to change its style guide to cite the "Gulf of Mexico" as "Gulf of America." 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office that restores names that "honor American greatness" by renaming the gulf and instructed the Interior Department to make the new name official. 

The reporter was allegedly blocked from attending a joint press briefing with Elon Musk, where the president signed several executive orders and answered questions about his new Department of Government Efficiency. 

The Associated Press has maintained that it will not change its policy to address the Gulf as "Gulf of America," because it is an international organization and did not want to confuse its readers.

“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” Julie Pace, AP's senior vice president and executive editor, said in a statement. “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of the AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.” 

The White House Correspondents’ Association, which consists of members from multiple news outlets that cover the White House, also rebuked the action, according to the Washington Times.

“The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with editors’ decisions," WHCA President Eugene Daniels said. "The move by the administration to bar a reporter from The Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable."

No other journalist was blocked from attending the event, the outlet reported. The White House has not commented on the situation so far.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.