The Associated Press has accused the White House of violating the First Amendment and called on the Trump administration to stop blocking its journalists from press events, Report informs referring to The New York Times.
Julie Pace, the executive editor of The AP, said in a letter addressed to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, that the White House had blocked AP journalists from attending two press events with President Trump on Tuesday: an executive order signing in the Oval Office and an evening press event in the Diplomatic Room.
Pace said that the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, had earlier informed an AP journalist that the news organization’s access to the Oval Office would be restricted if the news organization did not start using the term “Gulf of America” to refer to the Gulf of Mexico. On his first day in office, Mr. Trump ordered US authorities to make the change to official maps in an executive order.
