White House Defends Pulling AP's Oval Office Access Over 'Gulf of Mexico'

President Trump is sending a strong message to the media ... kiss my executive orders, or pay the price -- and his press secretary is laying down the law in no uncertain terms.

Sounding very much like the new sheriff in town, Karoline Leavitt barked at reporters Wednesday when someone raised the topic of the administration pulling the Associated Press' access to the Oval Office, because the outlet still refers to the Gulf of Mexico by that label, and not the one POTUS decreed in one of his first executive orders.

Leavitt said, "I was very upfront in my briefing on day 1. If we feel that there are lies being pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable."

She continued, "It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf of America, and I'm not sure why news outlets don't want to call it that, but that is what it is."

AP was not present for Trump's joint briefing Tuesday in the Oval Office with Elon Musk, and on Wednesday the outlet revealed it was all over that ... well, we'll just call it THAT body of water.

The outlet's defending its stance by pointing out it reports for the world -- not just the U.S. -- and since some countries are not calling it the Gulf of America, they haven't made the change.

If this all seems kinda petty, that's because it is ... however, there's a very real First Amendment issue here.

As CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked Leavitt, is the president going to "retaliate against reporters who don't use the language that you guys believe reporters should use?"

Leavitt's answer was a not-so-subtle ... hell yes.

She pointed out Google and Apple's maps have fallen in line -- but, for what it's worth, National Geographic is still using the old name, and famed mapmakers Rand McNally say they're waiting for official word from the Dept. of the Interior.

Making a mountain out of this particular molehill is an interesting move for Prez Trump, who's made a big deal about embracing freedom of speech.