Trump White House Bans Associated Press from Oval Office, Air Force One for Using These 'Divisive' 3 Words

President Donald Trump's White House has banned The Associated Press from accessing key press areas after the independent news outlet declined to mimic the administration's "preferred language" for an international body of water.

On Friday, Feb. 14, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich escalated a feud with the AP over its decision to continue using the name "Gulf of Mexico" in its coverage, rather than calling the oceanic basin by its new U.S. name, "Gulf of America."

Related: Mexican President Reacts to Trump's Gulf of America Plan: 'For the Entire World It Is Still the Gulf of Mexico'

"The Associated Press continues to ignore the lawful geographic name change of the Gulf of America. This decision is not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press' commitment to misinformation," Budowich said in a statement, which revealed the terms of the ban.

"While their right to irresponsible and dishonest reporting is protected by the First Amendment, it does not ensure their privilege of unfettered access to limited spaces, like the Oval Office and Air Force One."

Budowich clarified that the administration will allow AP journalists to retain their broader White House credentials, though the outlet is a core member of the official White House press pool, which is supposed to be present wherever the president addresses reporters.

Related: Google Maps Agrees to Replace 'Gulf of Mexico' with 'Gulf of America' for United States Users

The White House began hinting at retaliation toward the AP after the news organization — which is considered the gold standard of independent, nonpartisan journalism — revealed how it will handle Trump's "Gulf of America" name change, which only applies within the United States of America.

The outlet stated in late January that — while it will acknowledge "the new name that Trump has chosen" for the Gulf of Mexico in its reporting — its journalists across the globe will continue referring to the body of water by its original name because that is how it's known to most of the world.

Related: Hillary Clinton Laughs as Trump Shares Plan to Rename ‘Gulf of Mexico’ to ‘Gulf of America’ in His Inaugural Address

At the same time, the AP said that it would completely honor Trump's decision to revert "Mount Denali" back to the name "Mount McKinley," since the United States government has full authority over that landmark.

The Trump administration took issue with the AP for not wholeheartedly embracing the name "Gulf of America," and earlier in the week, the White House acted on its frustration by barring one of the outlet's journalists from attending an executive order signing in the Oval Office.

"As a global news organization, The Associated Press informs billions of people around the world every day with factual, nonpartisan journalism," responded Julie Pace, executive editor of the AP, in a statement on Tuesday, Feb. 11.

"It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism. Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment," she continued.

Related: Trump Announces Plan to Name Himself Chairman of the Kennedy Center and Dismiss Current Board

As the week progressed and the AP continued to be shut out by Trump's administration, the White House Correspondents' Association came to the outlet's defense, highlighting that the First Amendment prohibits the government from retaliating for speech that it dislikes.

"Let me be clear: the White House is seeking to curtail the press freedoms enshrined in our Constitution, and has admitted publicly they are restricting access to events to punish a news outlet for not advancing the government’s preferred language," said WHCA President Eugene Daniels in a statement on Feb. 13.

“Free speech and a free press are among the defining values of American democracy and must be preserved and protected."

Related: Donald Trump Says U.S. Should 'Take Over the Gaza Strip' and Turn It into the 'Riviera of the Middle East': 'We'll Own It'

Daniels stated that the White House press pool system is an important tool for ensuring that media outlets around the globe can be provided with accurate information about what the president says and does.

Details and quotes that are collected by members of the press pool are sent out to all outlets with a WHCA membership, allowing reporters outside of Washington to have equal access to the president.

“The attempted government censorship of a free press risks a chilling effect on journalists doing their job without fear or favor on behalf of the American people," he added. "This is a textbook violation of not only the First Amendment, but the president’s own executive order on freedom of speech and ending federal censorship."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer.

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump's administration has increased press access for right-leaning news outlets, inviting a handful of nontraditional organizations to participate in the official White House press briefings.

In February, the Department of Defense also stripped four major organizations — The New York Times, NBC News, NPR and Politico — of their dedicated office spaces at the Pentagon and handed them over to notably partisan organizations: the New York Post, Breitbart News, One America News and HuffPost.

Read the original article on People