Censored: media challenging Trump's world view sent packing

Donald Trump has barred the news agency Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One for failing to use the term Gulf of America instead of  Gulf of Mexico as it has been called for the past 400 years and more.

Trump told the Interior Department to rename the body of water with an executive order in January, but AP has said it will continue to call it by its traditional name.

"We're going to keep them out until such time as they agree that it's the Gulf of America," Trump told the press at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The move comes shortly after Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon ordered four major news outlets to pack up and move out to make way for pro-Trump substitutes.

The New York Times, NBC News, NPR and Politico had to give up their physical space by February 14 to smaller right-wing sites including Breitbart News and One America News as part of what a Pentagon spokesman called a “new annual media rotation.”

The New York Times responded to the new policy, saying: “This move to expel The Times and other independent, fact-based news outlets from the Pentagon’s press spaces is a concerning development.”

“The Times is committed to covering the Pentagon fully and fairly. Steps designed to impede access are clearly not in the public interest.”

According to NPR spokeswoman Isabel Lara, the move “interferes with the ability of millions of Americans to directly hear from Pentagon leadership.”

She added that it also interfered with “NPR’s public interest mission to serve Americans who turn to our network of local public media stations in all 50 states.”

According to CNN, Breitbart, which has replaced NPR in the Pentagon and has a pro-Trump website, has the shakiest of radio operations with a reach that doesn’t begin to compare to NPR.

Photo: screenshot of Breitbart front page.

One America, meanwhile, is so insignificant it slipped through the net when it came to Nielsen ratings measurement service.  It is also facing a slew of lawsuits concerning its misleading output on the Jan 6 Capitol riots, CNN reports.

Photo: One America News X account

While the Pentagon spokesman insisted that the major news sites would still remain members of the Pentagon news corps, this did little to placate those ousted.

Kevin Baron, a former vice president of the Pentagon Press Association, called the measure “the erasure of journalism at the Pentagon.”

“Kicking out reporters HURTS coverage. If you can’t file your stories from inside the building you are disadvantaged. If you don’t have a work space you are disadvantaged,” Baron said on X.

Photo: Kevin Baron X account.

NBC news pointed out that it had reported on the allegations against the new Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, including his alcohol consumption and his abusive behavior towards women.

NBC’s news spot has been replaced by One America News. The New York Post has replaced The New York Times and The Huff Post replaced Politico.

Politico’s senior managing editor, Anita Kumar, let it be known that Politico was “troubled by this decision,” The New York Times reports.

PHOTO: Anita Kumar X account

The board of the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement that it had “always welcomed new members and will continue to do so.”

It added: “We are, however, greatly troubled by this unprecedented move by D.O.D. to single out highly professional media who have covered the Pentagon for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations. We have asked for a meeting.”

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