WASHINGTON—In a town where access is everything, if you want to be influential, you have to go to all the right events.
It’s why people lined up for hours in the freezing cold to get into last year’s Inaugural Balls. It’s why, as we speak, congressional staffers and think tank flaks are jockeying to get invites to all the swankiest Christmas parties. And it’s why a couple of legacy media outlets are reportedly spinning their wheels to get invited to this Sunday’s Kennedy Center Honors.
The Associated Press and New York Times “are scrambling and begging” for press credentials just days before the event, Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi wrote on X this week.
“The date didn’t sneak up on anyone,” she added. “They knew it was coming. They just didn’t bother.”
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/AP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@AP</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@nytimes</a> are scrambling and begging for <a href="https://twitter.com/kencen?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@kencen</a> Honors press credentials at the last minute. 3 days before the show…
It’s the 48th Honors. The date didn’t sneak up on anyone. They knew it was coming. They just didn’t bother.
— Roma Daravi (@romadaravi) <a href="https://twitter.com/romadaravi/status/1996616392494268638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">December 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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This year’s class of honorees includes Michael Crawford, the Tony Award-winning singer who originated the titular role of the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway; disco legend Gloria Gaynor and country music star George Strait; “Rocky” star Sylvester Stallone; and the band KISS.
The Kennedy Center Honors are always a star-studded affair, and this year is no exception. Expected guests include Tommy Hilfiger, Kurt Russell, and Garth Brooks, The Daily Caller <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/12/04/tommy-hilfiger-kurt-russell-garth-brooks-sylvster-stallone-kennedy-center-honors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> this week. Inside-the-Beltway VIPs include House Speaker Mike Johnson, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
President Donald Trump will host this year’s honors in lieu of a celebrity master of ceremonies. First Lady Melania Trump is also expected to be in attendance.
This year also marks the debut of new medals for honorees, <a href="https://www.kennedy-center.org/news-room/press-release-landing-page/48th-kc-honors-medallion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designed exclusively</a> for the Kennedy Center by Tiffany &amp; Co.
This year’s honors, which will air on CBS on December 23, come at a pivotal time for the Kennedy Center. Trump has made overhauling the cultural institution a priority in his second term, as The Daily Wire has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-kennedy-center-is-40-million-in-debt-will-make-major-cuts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chronicled extensively</a>. Trump and Kennedy Center Director Richard Grenell have pushed to rectify the Kennedy Center’s financial situation and revamp its offerings.
The Trump administration’s reform efforts have made the Kennedy Center a political flashpoint. Recently, Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kennedy-center-board-of-trustees-president-pushes-back-after-senator-attacked-center-with-outrageous-claims" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> that the Center was “being looted to the tune of millions of dollars in foregone revenue, cancelled programming, unpaid use of its facilities, and wasteful spending on luxury restaurants and hotels — an unprecedented pattern of self-dealing, favoritism, and waste.”
“The press and the Senator should be ashamed of the lies they print and reprint — we want a cultural center for all Americans but they push lies to sow division amongst Americans for their selfish moment in a headline,” Daravi said in response to Whitehouse’s allegations.
Sources close to the matter tell The Daily Wire that the Times and the AP claim they missed the email inviting them to apply for press credentials. While neither outlet responded to a request for comment, Daravi addressed the missed email claims, saying simply, “They’ve had 48 years to prepare.”
Full disclosure: The Daily Wire will be in attendance at the 48th Kennedy Center Honors. We didn’t miss the email.

President Trump Participates In A Kennedy Center Board Meeting And Tour

The Kennedy Center Honors Are So Hot, Even The New York Times Is Clamoring To Get In

Associated Press

Donald Trump

New York Times

The Kennedy Center

Washington D.C.

At least two media outlets responded to an Afghan national&#8217;s attack on two National Guardsmen by fretting over how President Donald Trump&#8217;s reaction might hurt refugees.
The suspect in the shooting, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, is an Afghan national admitted to the United States in 2021, in the aftermath of former President Joe Biden&#8217;s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. On Wednesday, he opened fire on two National Guardsmen just blocks from the White House, killing one, Sarah Beckstrom and leaving the other, Andrew Wolfe, fighting for his life with critical injuries.
Trump, a vocal critic of the Biden administration&#8217;s Afghanistan failures, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115625421503636680">quickly promised</a> to &#8220;fix&#8221; the problems created when Biden allowed &#8220;hundreds of thousands of people&#8221; to come into the United States from Afghanistan, &#8220;totally unvetted and unchecked.&#8221;
The president also vowed to &#8220;permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries&#8221; and said that he planned to &#8220;deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.&#8221;
Rather than cover the story straight or report on the risk that Biden&#8217;s refugee policies pose to American citizens, the Associated Press telegraphed concern for Afghan refugees in the United States.
&#8220;Trump administration plan to review Biden-era refugees sparks worry and uncertainty,&#8221; one AP headline <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-refugees-chaos-fear-biden-immigration-memo-review-4991f722e9484816f6ea4cc705a6cd63">read</a>.
<blockquote>The Trump administration’s <a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/trumo-refugees-memo-biden-review-82cdbae263a903c6dcf25c2e04f50684" data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA">plan to review all refugees admitted</a> to the United States under the Biden administration is weighing heavily on people who could be affected by the evaluation, fueling uncertainty and worry among people who believed their status was secured.</blockquote>
Another headline <a href="https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-shooting-refugee-reactions-368d69586a28dabf47bf8e7025946068">reported</a> that &#8220;Refugee groups worry about backlash after shooting of National Guard soldiers in DC.&#8221;
<blockquote>Many Afghans living in the U.S. are afraid to leave their houses, fearing they’ll be swept up by immigration officials or attacked with hate speech, said Shawn VanDiver, president of the San Diego-based group #AfghanEvac, a group that helps resettle Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the two-decade war.
“They’re terrified. It’s insane,” VanDiver told The Associated Press Thursday. “People are acting xenophobic because of one deranged man. He doesn’t represent all Afghans. He represents himself.”</blockquote>
Yet another piece <a href="https://apnews.com/article/national-guard-shooting-afghan-operation-allies-welcome-b11c48fb0b807e8f519c266e2a004d8e">suggested</a> that Trump was in the wrong for criticizing the Biden administration for bringing unvetted Afghans into the United States in the first place. &#8220;Trump criticizes the program that brought Afghan refugees to the US who fought the Taliban,&#8221; it read.
<blockquote>The program, called <a class="Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement" href="https://apnews.com/article/immigration-new-jersey-united-states-kabul-taliban-273f9ebedfdd94739d6dbe77d7cbc3db" data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA">Operation Allies Welcome</a>, was created after the 2021 decision to leave Afghanistan following 20 years of American intervention and billions of dollars of aid.
Democratic President Joe Biden, who oversaw the withdrawal started by his predecessor — Republican President Donald Trump — said the U.S. owed it to the interpreters and translators, the fighters and drivers and others who opposed the Taliban to give them a safe place outside of Afghanistan.</blockquote>
The New York Times was slightly more overt in its adoption of the &#8220;Trump pounces&#8221; theme, with one headline <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/us/politics/trump-national-guard-shooting.html">asserting</a> &#8220;Trump Uses National Guard Shooting to Cast Suspicion on Refugees.&#8221;
<blockquote>President Trump claimed there were &#8220;a lot of problems with Afghans,&#8221; without providing evidence, as his administration announced that it was implementing new immigration guidelines.</blockquote>
But as those outlets and others have chosen to ignore, Army Ranger veteran and Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell warned the Biden administration in real time, telling anyone who would listen that bringing unvetted Afghans into the United States was a recipe for disaster.
Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at <a class="c-link" href="http://dailywire.com/blackfriday" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://dailywire.com/blackfriday" data-sk="tooltip_parent">dailywire.com/blackfriday</a>.
At the time, he <a href="https://x.com/Surabees/status/1994030582116876620">told the story</a> of an Afghan interpreter who had been working with his platoon for more than a year before betraying them, putting them on a path where a land mine injured several and killed one of Parnell&#8217;s men.
&#8220;After that mission was over, during our After Action Report (AAR), we found out that our interpreter — who had been with us every step of the way, someone who we thought was our friend — we learned that he was working with an Iranian IED cell in Pakistan, and coordinated the placement of that mine,&#8221; Parnell explained.
But Parnell&#8217;s warning fell on deaf ears. Just one day before the deadly shooting cast a pall over a nation preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving, another Afghan national <a href="https://x.com/Brooketaylortv/status/1994807675767398902">was arrested</a> for making a terroristic threat&#8221; and posting it on TikTok.
Fox News national correspondent Brooke Taylor reported that Mohammad Dawood Alokozay made it clear in the video that he was building a bomb and had intended to target the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Like the shooting suspect in custody in D.C., Alokozay was brought into the United States in the aftermath of the Afghanistan withdrawal under Biden&#8217;s Operation Allies Welcome. He was granted legal permanent resident status in September 2022.

After Deadly National Guard Attack, Media Fret About Afghan Refugees

Media Outlets Turn Targeted National Guard Shooting Into 'Trump Pounces' Headlines

Afghanistan

Media

Politics

Refugees

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled on Tuesday afternoon that President Donald Trump and his administration had to allow The Associated Press access to White House spaces following a weeks-long ban over the outlet&#8217;s refusal to refer to the Gulf of America by its new name in print.
McFadden, who was appointed by President Trump, argued that the First Amendment applied and that if other credentialed outlets were given access to space in the White House or aboard Air Force One, then the administration could not selectively bar The Associated Press over a difference of opinion.
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BREAKING: Associated Press wins preliminary injunction against White House in &quot;Gulf of America&quot; case: <a href="https://t.co/Hjw3t5AMXk">pic.twitter.com/Hjw3t5AMXk</a>
&mdash; Adam Steinbaugh (@adamsteinbaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/adamsteinbaugh/status/1909711155666522366?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Acknowledging the fact that limited space would not always allow for every outlet to have a physical presence at every event, McFadden stated in his ruling that this judgment was not a free pass for The Associated Press to have access to every possible event.
&#8220;This injunction does not limit the various permissible reasons the Government may have for excluding journalists from limited-access events. It does not mandate that all eligible journalists, or indeed any journalists at all, be given access to the President or nonpublic government spaces. It does not prohibit government officials from freely choosing which journalists to sit down with for interviews or which ones’ questions they answer. And it certainly does not prevent senior officials from publicly expressing their own views,&#8221; McFadden wrote.
&#8220;No, the Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists—be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere—it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less,&#8221; he added.
The ruling is set to go into effect on April 13, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.

President Donald Trump

Judge Orders White House To Reinstate AP To Press Pool

Judge Sides With AP Against White House

Gulf of America

Gulf of Mexico

Karoline Leavitt

White House

A board member for the media company that owns POLITICO derided an article the outlet published from the Associated Press as “one-sided Hamas support.”
Martin Varsavsky, a board member of Berlin-based media company Axel Springer, took to X on Tuesday to criticize the AP piece published by POLITICO that cited Hamas&#8217; death toll numbers even though they have lied about the count repeatedly.
“I am on the board of Axel Springer that owns Político. I consider this article one sided Hamas support,” Varsavsky said. “It fails to mention that the airstrikes were aimed at eliminating top Hamas military and thar Israel was successful at doing so. It also quotes casualty figures given by Hamas that are not believed to be accurate.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I am on the board of Axel Springer that owns Político. I consider this article one sided Hamas support. It fails to mention that the airstrikes were aimed at eliminating top Hamas military and thar Israel was successful at doing so. It also quotes casualty figures given by Hamas… <a href="https://t.co/TDWcfCaHYQ">https://t.co/TDWcfCaHYQ</a>
— Martin Varsavsky (@martinvars) <a href="https://twitter.com/martinvars/status/1901895051510272183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The AP article posted on POLITICO’s website cited Gaza Health Ministry officials claiming Israeli airstrikes killed at least 200 people and included a photo of a man holding a child with blood coming out of her nose.
The Gaza Health Ministry is notorious for lying about the number of casualties, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hamas-run-gaza-health-ministry-cited-by-legacy-media-has-history-of-lying-about-civilian-casualties" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The false statistics designed to inflate the number of casualties caused by Israel have been known for at least a decade, with a U.S. News &amp; World Report opinion piece highlighting the issue back in 2014.
“Hamas lies systematically, instructing civilians to misinform the foreign press. It lies habitually, with a formidable record of mendacity from previous conflicts. And it lies guiltlessly, convinced that the objectives of ‘resistance’ supersede quaint notions of truth-telling,” Oren Kessler wrote at the time.
In August 2024, about 80 media outlets had to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/eighty-media-outlets-issue-correction-on-ap-story-that-inflated-gaza-civilian-death-toll" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue a correction</a> to an AP story that falsely claimed that more than 40,000 civilians had been killed in the Israel-Hamas war that started after Hamas terrorists committed a massacre against Israelis on October 7, 2023. The Gaza Health Ministry claims more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, but it never said all 40,000 were civilians.
Israel estimates that more than 17,000 of those killed in the war were Hamas terrorists.
Even though the Gaza Health Ministry is known to inflate the number of casualties, media outlets continue to cite them to frame Israel as unnecessarily aggressive. The AP story criticized by Varsavksy noted in the 11th paragraph that Israel “was striking Hamas’ military, leaders and infrastructure” in the attacks, citing an Israeli official. Prior to that, the outlet described wounded Palestinians, including a crying little girl. It also provided Hamas’ perspective on the attacks while minimizing Israel’s.
The AP also reported that the “White House sought to blame Hamas for the renewed fighting” in the 9th paragraph. As National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told the outlet, Hamas “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.” Several paragraphs earlier, the AP let Hamas blame Israel for ending the ceasefire.
The Associated Press once shared an office building with Hamas in Gaza, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/associated-press-laments-loss-of-gaza-bureau-which-shared-office-space-with-terrorist-organization-hamas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. That building was destroyed in 2021.
The AP noted at the time that all of its employees and freelancers were able to evacuate the building safely, thanks to the Israeli military calling ahead to warn them of the strike, as it does when targeting civilian buildings. The reason Israel targets those civilian structures is because Hamas and Palestinian authorities hide intelligence operations, weapons, and other important assets in these buildings, claiming victimhood after they’re destroyed.

Hamas Terrorists

Board Member Of POLITICO Ownership Group Deems Article ‘One-Sided Hamas Support’

Member Of Politico Ownership Group Derides ‘One-Sided Hamas Support’

Hamas

Israel

Media Bias

Politico

World

The Associated Press retracted an article on Monday after it falsely claimed that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “very good friends.”
“The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard saying President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘are very good friends.’ Gabbard was talking about Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The AP will publish a corrected version of the story,” the AP <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/gabbard-says-trump-putin-very-213620262.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> in a correction after retracting the article.
The article covered comments Gabbard made during a trip to India as the U.S. intelligence chief. It was initially headlined, according to one post online, “Gabbard Says Trump And Putin Are ‘Very Good Friends’ Focused On Strengthening Ties.”
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/AP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AP</a> is total trash. DNI <a href="https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TulsiGabbard</a> was referring to PM Modi &amp; President Trump and this is the headline they publish.
This is why no one trusts the maliciously incompetent and purposefully bias media. If this isn’t a clear example of pushing a solely political narrative,… <a href="https://t.co/1chFZQqTEd">pic.twitter.com/1chFZQqTEd</a>
— Alexa Henning (@alexahenning) <a href="https://twitter.com/alexahenning/status/1901910406030864512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Gabbard made the comments in an interview with India’s NDTV. The AP’s corrected article focused on comments Gabbard made about Trump’s efforts to negotiate an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
“Under the previous administration, during which this war began, there was no effort, there was no effort at all towards peace. There was no effort to have direct dialogue with Putin and with Russia to try to bring about an end to this war. So already in a very short period of time, President Trump has made much more progress towards peace than any effort that has occurred by anyone, previously,” Gabbard said, according to the AP’s updated <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gabbard-russia-trump-putin-d4f20f73d1c16dd7e365eae782ff9c5f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a>. “I’m sure that President Trump will have a very productive conversation with Putin, once again, rooted in his unwavering commitment to peace.”
The error will likely deepen the gulf in the relationship between the Trump administration and the AP. The White House barred AP reporters and photographers from the press pool that covers the president. The AP is also banned from attending certain events. The White House blocked the outlet after it refused to update its stylebook to reference the “Gulf of America,” recently renamed from the &#8220;Gulf of Mexico&#8221; by a Trump executive order.
“It is a privilege to cover this White House. It&#8217;s a privilege to be the White House Press Secretary. And nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United States questions,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://x.com/WesternLensman/status/1889749965074825495" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> last month after being questioned on the White House’s actions against the AP.
&#8220;I was very upfront in my briefing on day one that if we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable,” she added. “It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I&#8217;m not sure why news outlets don&#8217;t want to call it that, but that is what it is.”

AP Retracts Article That Claimed Trump ‘Very Good Friends’ With Putin

AP Retracts Article Suggesting Trump ‘Very Good Friends’ With Putin

Tulsi Gabbard

Vladimir Putin

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt slammed a reporter with the Associated Press who challenged her on tariffs during a press briefing last week.
Leavitt&#8217;s remarks on &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; come after the AP&#8217;s Josh Boak aggressively questioned her on Tuesday, which led her to say that she was &#8220;insulted&#8221; by the line of questioning before she called on someone else.
&#8220;First of all, with that individual reporter from the Associated Press who tried to test me on tariffs, he clearly fails to see President Trump&#8217;s long term economic strategy, which is to bring in so much revenue, so much wealth into our country through tariffs that we can give larger tax cuts to the American people to put more money back into their pockets,&#8221; she said.
She added that he &#8220;clearly didn&#8217;t understand that very simple idea.&#8221;
&#8220;But as for the greater mainstream media&#8217;s coverage, I think that example proves that they continue to double down on their failing ways,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They focus on sensationalism, on trying to get a viral moment, rather than asking tough questions with honest integrity and journalistic curiosity, wanting to know the answers. They want to make a name for themselves.&#8221;
&#8220;And that&#8217;s why the trust in the mainstream media has fallen to record lows, and that&#8217;s why at the White House, we are very proud of the changes that we have made to the briefing room and also to the press coverage of this President, welcoming in independent voices and new media who truly care about the truth, honesty, and accuracy,&#8221; she added.
WATCH:
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Today exclusively on <a href="https://twitter.com/SundayFutures?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SundayFutures</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/MariaBartiromo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MariaBartiromo</a>, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> spoke about the media&#39;s coverage of President Trump&#39;s second term.<a href="https://twitter.com/FoxNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FoxNews</a> <a href="https://t.co/tWfqzKem3z">pic.twitter.com/tWfqzKem3z</a>
&mdash; SundayMorningFutures (@SundayFutures) <a href="https://twitter.com/SundayFutures/status/1901294512829243604?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2025</a></blockquote>
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US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Karoline Leavitt Rips AP Reporter For Not Understanding ‘Very Simple Idea’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt torched an Associated Press reporter during Tuesday’s briefing, telling him it was “insulting” that he’d attempted to test her understanding of economics.
The reporter posed a question about the tariffs President Donald Trump has threatened to levy against multiple nations around the globe — tariffs that his administration says are designed to bring about trade deals that are ultimately more balanced and fair — and claimed that they would just be another “tax” that hurt American consumers.
Leavitt pushed back immediately, explaining that the goal was to reach a balance where other nations were not placing massive tariffs on American goods without consequence.
“I think it&#8217;s insulting that you are trying to test my knowledge of economics &#8230; I now regret giving a question to the Associated Press,” Leavitt added.
Adding insult to injury, the photographer who took the iconic photo of President Donald Trump just after his attempted assassination at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally has won a prestigious award for that image, but is no longer allowed to cover the president.
The photo that captured the moment when Trump stood up — face bloodied and fist raised — as Secret Service agents attempted to rush him off the stage, <a href="https://x.com/whca/status/1899222143746924984" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was awarded</a> Political Photo of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association. But because photographer Evan Vucci is employed by The Associated Press — and his outlet has been banned from the White House — he can no longer cover President Trump.
Vucci complained about the scenario in a <a href="https://x.com/evanvucci/status/1899458557277249877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on X, arguing that his photo was proof that he and his outlet — which he claimed was “nonpartisan” — were needed in that space.
&#8220;This photo underscores the importance of eyewitness journalism and AP’s legacy of documenting the presidency,&#8221; Vucci posted, adding, &#8220;I look forward to the day I can once again cover President Trump alongside my colleagues. Now more than ever, independent, nonpartisan photojournalism is essential.&#8221;
The AP was banned from the White House over a refusal to update its style guide to include the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ap-indefinitely-barred-from-white-house-over-use-of-gulf-of-mexico" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gulf of America</a>, as it was recently renamed by President Donald Trump via executive order.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich explained, &#8220;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.&#8221;
&#8220;Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration,&#8221; Budowich continued, also arguing that the AP&#8217;s refusal to make the change was &#8220;not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press’ commitment to misinformation.&#8221;

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Holds Daily Briefing

Press Sec Torches AP Reporter For Trying To ‘Test’ Her On Economics

assassination attempt

President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Tuesday after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., rejected the Associated Press&#8217; request to temporarily restore its White House access after Trump banned the outlet for continuing to use the incorrect term “Gulf of Mexico” in its reports.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to be now calling those shots,&#8221; Trump said, sitting behind the Resolute Desk. &#8220;As you know, we won that lawsuit right there — see the Gulf of America, which is a beautiful name, most people agree.&#8221;
&#8220;AP has been terrible,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I think they&#8217;re radical Left. I think they&#8217;re third rate reporters. I know the specific young lady that works on the account is terrible. She&#8217;s a radical Left lunatic as far as I&#8217;m concerned. They don&#8217;t treat us fairly.&#8221;
Aside for the Associated Press&#8217; left-wing bias, Trump said that the publication had &#8220;no right&#8221; to continue using the term &#8220;Gulf of Mexico&#8221; after his administration named it the &#8220;Gulf of America.&#8221;
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President Trump roasts Fake News <a href="https://twitter.com/AP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AP</a>: &#8220;I think they&#8217;re Radical Left. I think they&#8217;re third-rate reporters &#8230; They don&#8217;t treat us fairly.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/9fZsAhDHLb">pic.twitter.com/9fZsAhDHLb</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1894515662342496369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who was appointed by Trump in 2017, turned down the Associated Press’ request for a temporary restraining order, writing that the AP “can get access to the same information” from pool coverage rather than attending each White House event directly.
Judge McFadden explained that he was not convinced the AP faced “irreparable harm” from the current restrictions, per CNN.
He noted that the AP was only being barred from “more private areas” of the administration, such as Air Force One and the Oval Office.
The White House celebrated the decision in a press release, “As we have said from the beginning, asking the President of the United States questions in the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One is a privilege granted to journalists, not a legal right.”
“We stand by our decision to hold the Fake News accountable for their lies, and President Trump will continue to grant an unprecedented level of access to the press. This is the most transparent Administration in history.”

President Trump Signs Executive Orders At The White House

Trump Slams The AP After Victory Over ‘Gulf Of America’

Former CNN host Jim Acosta drafted a carefully thought out plan to stop President Donald Trump from shutting out legacy media outlets like The Associated Press when it did not abide by rules set by the White House — but a closer look shows an obvious comparison in the Disney musical &#8220;Newsies.&#8221;
Acosta, who made a name for himself during Trump&#8217;s first term as a foil for then-White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, left CNN when the network made it clear he was being banished to the graveyard shift. He&#8217;s since launched an independent show.
His current beef with the new Trump administration is actually a proxy war on behalf of The Associated Press, barred from access to Air Force One and the Oval Office over a refusal to update its style guide to reflect the newly-renamed Gulf of America. Acosta can relate on a personal level, having once had his own press credentials revoked after he attempted to wrest a microphone from the hands of a White House intern.
<a href="https://jimacosta.substack.com/p/trump-white-house-harassment-of-the" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The plan</a>, he says, is simple: the press should boycott the White House altogether, denying President Trump the mass media coverage he currently enjoys:
<blockquote>Reporters and their bosses, however, need to do more. For starters, the AP should consider challenging the White House harassment of its reporters in court. News outlets then must rally to the cause, by offering supportive statements to the court hearing the case, writing op-Ed’s backing the AP, and, if necessary, refusing to cover presidential movements in solidarity, until Trump backs down.
&#8230;
News organizations in Washington should be banding together to send the message that members of the press will determine how they cover the news. Not the White House. Not the man behind the Resolute Desk, no matter how he redraws the world’s maps. The presidential Sharpie is not mightier than the pen.</blockquote>
So Acosta&#8217;s idea is to have legacy media rally around The AP, &#8220;refusing to cover&#8221; Trump&#8217;s movements until he capitulates.
If that sounds familiar, it&#8217;s because it could have been ripped straight from the Disney musical &#8220;<a href="https://www.valdosta.edu/colleges/arts/communication-arts/psst/documents/newsies-scene-e.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Newsies</a>.&#8221;
The &#8220;newsies,&#8221; who hawked newspapers on the streets of turn-of-the-century New York City, were attempting to unionize — a move opposed by newspaper giants Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.
The newsies planned a rally, and Pulitzer issued a simple warning: &#8220;Rally till the cows come home. Not a paper in town will publish a word. And if it’s not in the papers, it never happened.&#8221;
And while Pulitzer made good on his threat and the major papers did not cover the rally, the newsies eventually published their own paper — and ultimately beat him at his own game.
With the Trump administration already moving to allow space in the White House briefing room to more conservative outlets and unconventional media, the framework is already laid for legacy media to boycott briefings as Acosta suggested — and it&#8217;s possible that coverage could still carry on without a hiccup.

US-POLITICS-MEDIA-COURT

Jim Acosta’s Totally Foolproof Plan To Stop Trump…Ripped From A Disney Musical?

Jim Acosta's Totally Foolproof Plan To Stop Trump ... Ripped From A Disney Musical?

Disney

Jim Acosta

Vice President JD Vance let former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan have it in a brief spat on X over The Associated Press being barred from the White House after refusing to update the style guide to reflect the newly renamed Gulf of America.
The conversation began with a piece from Axios White House reporter Marc Caputo, who argued, &#8220;President Trump’s decision to limit AP reporters&#8217; access is as much fight over the Gulf of America as it is a protest of what White House advisers say is years of liberal word choices that AP’s influential stylebook has spread across mainstream media.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
President Trump’s decision to limit AP reporters&#39; access is as much fight over the Gulf of America as it is a protest of what White House advisers say is years of liberal word choices that AP’s influential stylebook has spread across mainstream media<a href="https://t.co/H7hJrsY44r">https://t.co/H7hJrsY44r</a>
&mdash; Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarcACaputo/status/1891464554120454264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Hasan quickly hopped on the legacy media bandwagon, asserting that the Trump administration&#8217;s decision to bar The AP from the White House was a violation of the outlet&#8217;s right to free speech.
The ousted MSNBC host also attempted to tie in current events and take a swing at the vice president in the process.
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&#8220;Hey, @JDVance, I know you’re busy lecturing the Europeans on free speech, but have you seen this?&#8221; Hasan asked.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Yes dummy. I think there’s a difference between not giving a reporter a seat in the WH press briefing room and jailing people for dissenting views. The latter is a threat to free speech, the former is not. Hope that helps!
&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1891553587970380152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Yes dummy. I think there’s a difference between not giving a reporter a seat in the WH press briefing room and jailing people for dissenting views,&#8221; Vance replied. &#8220;The latter is a threat to free speech, the former is not. Hope that helps!&#8221;
During his recent speech in Munich, Vance warned European leaders about the dangers of suppressing free speech and censoring their own citizens — a move that prompted backlash from American media.
CBS News host Margaret Brennan responded to Vance&#8217;s remarks by claiming on Sunday&#8217;s &#8220;Face the Nation&#8221; broadcast that &#8220;free speech was weaponized&#8221; to cause the Holocaust. Just hours later, the network aired an episode of &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; that cast a positive light on German authorities&#8217; efforts to crack down on free speech, particularly online.
Vance responded to Brennan&#8217;s comments with <a href="https://x.com/JDVance/status/1891219511942029677" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disbelief</a>, and pushed back on the claims made during the &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; broadcast — namely that in Germany, it is now illegal to post insults or to repost lies.
&#8220;Insulting someone is not a crime, and criminalizing speech is going to put real strain on European-US relationships. This is Orwellian, and everyone in Europe and the US must reject this lunacy,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Insulting someone is not a crime, and criminalizing speech is going to put real strain on European-US relationships. 
This is Orwellian, and everyone in Europe and the US must reject this lunacy. <a href="https://t.co/WZSifyDWMr">https://t.co/WZSifyDWMr</a>
&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1891467842106630244?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2025</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

JD Vance

Vance Torches ‘Dummy’ Mehdi Hasan In Spat Over Free Speech And The Associated Press

Free Speech

Germany

The Trump White House has barred the Associated Press from entering the Oval Office and boarding Air Force One, pointing to the outlet’s continued use of “Gulf of Mexico” instead of the administration’s newly proclaimed “Gulf of America.”
President Trump issued an executive order last month to institute the name change in government agencies and among federal contractors, but the AP and other non-government institutions have resisted the change.
The AP claims that since the order has not been recognized internationally, it would continue calling the body of water the Gulf of Mexico, and is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/media/white-house-ap-ban-air-force-one-oval-office-gulf-of-mexico/index.html">preparing</a> a lawsuit challenging the White House’s decision, according to CNN.
The White House has only barred AP reporters from “pooled” events at both the Oval Office and Air Force One, with the outlet’s photographers still permitted along with retaining their white house credentials, according to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich.
“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 said in a statement on X.
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“Going forward, that space will now be opened up to the many thousands of reporters who have been barred from covering these intimate areas of the administration,” Budowich said.
Budowich reiterated the administration’s disapproval of the AP’s editorial stance, characterizing the outlet’s refusal to adopt the new name for the gulf as “not just divisive, but it also exposes the Associated Press’ commitment to misinformation.” Another official indicated that the spaces previously occupied by AP correspondents would now be made available to a rotation of other outlets.
The White House Correspondents Association called the move “a textbook violation of not only the First Amendment, but the president’s own executive order on freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.”

US-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-MEXICO-OCEANS-TRUMP

AP Indefinitely Barred From White House Over Use Of ‘Gulf Of Mexico’

Legacy Media

Trump Administration

White House Correspondents Association

The White House blocked an Associated Press reporter from entering the Oval Office on Tuesday over the AP&#8217;s refusal to use &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gulf-of-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gulf of America</a>,&#8221; the Associated Press said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
The Associated Press crafts a stylebook that many newsrooms across the world religiously adhere to — for example, the AP style guide <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/ap-stylebook-issues-guide-for-transgender-coverage/">recommends</a> using &#8220;gender-affirming care&#8221; to describe transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers, even when discussing minors, and to use the phrase &#8220;pregnant people&#8221; and  “people seeking abortions” to describe women seeking to abort their unborn babies.
Recently the AP made the decision not to adhere to President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, arguing in a January 23 statement that the Gulf of America shares borders between the U.S. and Mexico and that Trump&#8217;s order &#8220;only carries authority within the United States.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
On our updated Transgender Topical Guide: trans-exclusionary radical feminist. 
We recommend avoiding the vague and politicized term to describe cisgender women or others who object to the inclusion of transgender women in women&#8217;s spaces.<a href="https://t.co/HEBdoiEWnM">https://t.co/HEBdoiEWnM</a> <a href="https://t.co/zSet75MbU5">pic.twitter.com/zSet75MbU5</a>
— APStylebook (@APStylebook) <a href="https://twitter.com/APStylebook/status/1669037653348474889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2023</a></blockquote>
&#8220;Mexico, as well as other countries and international bodies, do not have to recognize the name change,&#8221; the AP statement said. &#8220;The Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years. The Associated Press will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen. As a global news agency that disseminates news around the world, the AP must ensure that place names and geography are easily recognizable to all audiences.&#8221;
The statement also said that the AP would follow Trump&#8217;s executive order reverting the name of &#8220;North America&#8217;s tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, to Mount McKinley,&#8221; since the area lies solely in the United States. Former President Barack Obama had changed Mount McKinleys name to Denali to &#8220;reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives,&#8221; but Trump&#8217;s executive order said that the president wanted to “restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley.”
On Tuesday, after Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/gulf-of-america-day-2025/">recognized February 9</a> as the first ever Gulf of America Day, the AP said that one of its reporters had been blocked from entering the Oval Office over the publication&#8217;s decision.
The president had signed an executive order on January 20 “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” that called on the the Secretary of the Interior to “take all appropriate actions to rename as the ‘Gulf of America’ the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the State of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba in the area formerly named as the Gulf of Mexico.”
<div id="attachment_875533" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-blocks-reporter-from-oval-office-over-gulf-of-america-battle-ap-says/us-jordan-diplomacy-trump-abdullah-ii-3" rel="attachment wp-att-875533"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-875533" class="wp-image-875533 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198363599-1-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198363599-1-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198363599-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198363599-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198363599-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/02/GettyImages-2198363599-1-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>US President Donald Trump, King Abdullah II of Jordan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
&#8220;Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office,&#8221; the Associated Press statement said. &#8220;This afternoon[,] AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.&#8221;
&#8220;It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,&#8221; the statement continued. &#8220;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.&#8221;
Eugene Daniels, the president of the White House Correspondents Association, also sent out a statement Tuesday evening arguing that &#8220;in the relationship between the press and the Office of the President, coverage and standards are entirely in the purview of individual organizations.&#8221;
“The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,&#8221; Daniels said on Tuesday evening. &#8220;The move by the administration to bar a reporter from The Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable. The WHCA stands with The Associated Press and calls on the administration to immediately change course.&#8221;
The White House declined to comment on the matter to The Daily Wire.

Elon Musk Joins President Trump For Signing Executive Orders In The Oval Office

White House Blocks Reporter From Oval Office Over ‘Gulf Of America’ Battle, AP Says

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