Conservative outlets Fox News and Newsmax have signed onto a letter backed by several news organizations calling on the Trump administration to stop excluding The Associated Press from official White House events.
The White House has said it will continue sidelining AP until the news agency uses “Gulf of America” instead of “Gulf of Mexico,” following an executive order by President Donald Trump renaming the body of water.
The letter, which was first reported by Status, was circulated by the White House Correspondents Association and has been signed by 40 news organizations, including Fox News and Newsmax.
“The decision to exclude the Associated Press from covering the president aboard Air Force One and in the Oval Office is an escalation of a dispute that does not serve the presidency or the public,” the letter reads, according to The Washington Post. “News organizations must be free to make their own editorial decisions without fear of government intrusion.”
Newsmax also released its own statement on the Trump-AP standoff, saying that while they may often find themselves at odds with AP’s editorial point of view, they felt inclined to speak up in support of the news organization’s First Amendment rights.
“We can understand President Trump’s frustration because the media has often been unfair to him, but Newsmax still supports the AP’s right, as a private organization, to use the language it wants to use in its reporting,” the statement reads. “We fear a future administration may not like something Newsmax writes and seek to ban us.”
This letter hasn’t been made public, reflecting the WHCA’s assessment that pressuring the White House behind the scenes might be a better strategy, according to Status.
Other news organizations that have signed it include CNN, The New York Times and Axios, which recently said it would follow the president’s name change.
AP executive editor Julie Pace also met with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles earlier this week to discuss the ongoing tensions, but no progress has been recorded, at least so far.
Separately, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press this week sent a letter to Wiles, signed by over 30 news organizations, including HuffPost, urging her to restore AP’s participation in the pool of reporters who travel with the president.
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Trump, though, has shown no signs of backing down.
In remarks before the Republican Governors Association, Trump called The Associated Press a “radical left organization,” claiming the news agency “treats us all very badly.”
