Associated Press (via WRAL/The Hill)

The Associated Press is a nonprofit news cooperative owned collectively by U.S. news organizations, with no single corporate or government owner. Independent media analysts rate its reporting as center-left in orientation, driven primarily by story selection and framing rather than overt opinion. During the Trump second term, AP openly clashed with the White House—filing a lawsuit after being barred from Oval Office access over its refusal to rename the Gulf of Mexico—placing its current posture toward the administration in the broadly critical range.