More than 250 journalists, including Ann Curry, Sam Donaldson and Dan Rather, and journalism organizations are urging the White House Correspondents Association to “forcefully demonstrate opposition” to President Donald Trump at the annual dinner set to take place this weekend.
Ahead of the White House Correspondents’ dinner, which Trump is set to attend for the first time as president, the journalists issued a reminder that the president has repeatedly attacked the media and threatened to silence reporters over the last year.
“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 uphold it,” the letter read. “President Trump’s systematic, sustained, and unprecedented attacks on the free press render his presence at such an event a profound contradiction of its purpose.”
The letter suggested a member of the White House Correspondents’ Association make a forceful defense of freedom of the press and condemn those who attack the media.
“Speak forcefully, in front of the man who seeks to undermine our country’s long tradition of independent, strong, and free press,” the letter read.
It’s unclear if the White House Correspondents’ Association plans to make a verbal statement at the dinner.
The Independent has asked the White House Correspondents’ Association for comment.
The dinner is a long-held tradition in which journalists, lawmakers, celebrities, advocates and more come together to raise money for the Correspondents’ Association scholarships and award journalists for their work.
Traditionally, the president and members of the administration attend the dinner, which typically features a comedian host performing a “roast.”
However, Trump’s contentious relationship with the media has always kept him away. Trump refused to attend the dinner during his first administration and declined to attend the event last year.
However, he did famously attend the annual dinner before he was president in 2011. In a particularly memorable moment, former President Barack Obama joked about Trump being a conspiracy theorist because the then-businessman and reality TV host had promoted the Obama citizenship conspiracy.
But this year, the black-tie dinner will look different. Not only will Trump attend the event and deliver a speech, but the White House Correspondents’ Association is removing the roast.
Over the last year, Trump and his administration have made continuous attacks on the press, punishing reporters with verbal insults, restricting journalists’ access to the government, accusing networks of illegal activity and launching multi-million dollar lawsuits against media organizations, among other tactics.
In February 2025, the White House barred Associated Press reporters from covering the president because they refused to call the “Gulf of Mexico” the “Gulf of America.” A federal appeals court upheld the Trump administration’s ban on the AP but only in certain parts of the White House, Mar-a-Lago and Air Force One.
In September, the Defense Department created new restrictive rules for its press corps that prevent reporters from using or obtaining unauthorized information, even unclassified. Most media outlets refused to sign the new agreement, which resulted in a forfeiture of Pentagon passes. A federal judge has deemed the Pentagon’s press policy unconstitutional.
Trump sued the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion for defamation after it published a copy of a birthday letter Trump allegedly gave to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2003. The president has denied sending the letter. However, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit this month, telling the president he failed to show actual malice.
The White House website has also launched a “Media Offenders” page in which the government routinely accuses specific journalists and their news organizations of disseminating false information.
Members of the administration consistently attack reporters online, during press conferences, amid gaggles and at the White House briefing using words like: “Truly f***ing stupid,” “ugly,” “piggy,” “left-wing hack,” “rude,” “unpatriotic” and “obnoxious.”
Some journalists planned to attend this year’s dinner with pocket handkerchiefs or lapel pins that promote the First Amendment, but the group of journalists and journalism organizations urged stronger action.
