More than 200 journalists sign open letter demanding Trump be called out at WHCD
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More than 200 journalists have signed an open letter urging the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) to call out President Donald Trump to his face at Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD).
The open letter published Monday began: “We, the undersigned, call on the White House Correspondents’ Association to demonstrate strong opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample on the freedom of the press on the occasion of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.” “The dinner has long served as a symbol of the vital and irreplaceable role of a free press in American democracy and a celebration of the First Amendment and the journalists who support it. President Trump’s systematic, sustained, and unprecedented attacks on the free press…make his presence at such an event a profound contradiction of his purpose.”
letter He continued: “The collective weight of the administration’s actions—retaliatory access bans, coercive regulatory investigations, frivolous lawsuits against the press, defunding of public broadcasting, international broadcast shutdowns, physical restraints on journalists, personal verbal attacks on reporters, attacks on the media in official White House press releases and social media posts, arrests of journalists, and pardons of those who have committed violence against the press—represent the most systematic and comprehensive attack on the freedoms of the press by a sitting American president.”
TRUMP’S RETURN TO THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS’ DINNER SIGNALS THE COMPLETE RETURN OF THE POLITICAL JOURNEY
President Donald Trump is set to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner this Saturday for the first time as president. (Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Journalists called on WHCA leadership to condemn Trump’s threats to the press from the podium, saying this year’s WHCD “cannot operate as usual unless the press stands up every day to applaud the man who attacks them.”
The letter stated, “Speak strongly in front of a man who seeks to undermine our country’s long tradition of an independent, strong and free press.” “We also call on the WHCA to reaffirm beyond any doubt that freedom of the press is not a partisan issue and that the Association will not normalize this behavior but will instead fight against any official waging systematic war against the journalists whose work is being celebrated at the dinner.”
Signatories of the letter include former CBS News anchor Dan Pretty, former ABC News White House correspondent Sam Donaldson, former NBC News anchor Ann Curry and PBS NewsHour correspondent Stephanie Sy.
TRUMP ACCEPTED THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION’S INVITATION TO DINNER FOR THE FIRST TIME AS PRESIDENT.
Former CBS News anchor Dan Pretty was among the signatories demanding that the White House Correspondents Association address Trump’s face at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
The letter included a long list titled “The Trump Administration’s Attacks on Press Freedom.” Examples listed include Trump’s “Gulf of America” feud with the Associated Press, the Pentagon’s crackdown on press access, Trump’s lawsuit settlements with ABC News and CBS News, as well as various insults he used against individual journalists.
Several journalist organizations also signed the letter, including the National Association of Black Journalists and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
In response to the letter, a White House spokesman merely pointed to Trump’s Truth Social. to mail He announced that he would be joining the WHCD, announcing that he accepted the invitation because the WHCA had asked him “very politely” and that he “recognized that I am truly the GOAT, one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country.”
It is known that Pretty was fired from CBS News in 2004 for publishing an inaccurate report about President George W. Bush based on false documents.
This year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner marks Trump’s first appearance as president after boycotting the annual press gala last year and during his first term.
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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he and Secretary of State Marco Rubio leave the White House on Friday, March 20, 2026, in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
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