Category: News

Veteran and former journalists are renewing their calls on the White House Correspondents’ Association to speak out on the Trump administration’s attacks on reporters and press freedom when he attends its rescheduled dinner on Friday.

A letter to the WHCA, organized by former ABC News correspondent Lisa Stark and executive producer Ian Cameron, reiterates earlier calls to condemn the president’s attacks on the news media. More than 500 veteran and former journalists signed on to a letter in advance of the April dinner.

The April event, though, was ended abruptly after a gunman attempted to enter the Washington Hilton ballroom by breaching a security checkpoint, with a Secret Service agent struck by a bullet into his protective vest. The gunman, Cole Tomas Allen pleaded not guilty to a series of charges, including attempted assassination of the president.

“Since that evening, the administration’s attacks on journalists and press freedom have become even more egregious,” the new letter to the WHCA stated. “The President’s Department of Justice has subpoenaed journalists and their phone records. President Trump has threatened to revoke licenses of broadcasters who refuse to acquiesce to his demands.”

The letter called on the WHCA to “forcefully stand up for freedom of the press in front of the President, publicly defend the journalists he attacks, and vow to resist his administration’s concerted effort to
undermine the First Amendment.”

Among other things, they cited the Justice Department’s subpoenas to New York Times journalists after they reported on the lack of security features on the new Air Force One, a retrofitted 747 that was a gift from Qatar. The FCC has ordered ABC stations to seek early renewals of broadcast licenses, in what the network called a threat to the First Amendment. The FCC said that the early renewal was related to an investigation of the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion hiring practices, but it came after Trump called on the network to fire Jimmy Kimmel over one of his jokes.

Among the organizations signing on to the letter in April were the Society for Professional Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the Coalition of Women in Journalism, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the Media & Democracy Project.

The dinner, to be held at a smaller venue at the Waldorf Astoria, is scheduled to include remarks from Trump, presentation of awards and scholarships, and entertainment from Oz Pearlman. The WHCA announced that special awards will be presented to Victor Gonzales, the Secret Service officer, and to the staff of the Washington Hilton.

This post was corrected to reflect that the WHCA dinner will be held at the Waldorf Astoria.

The complete letter is below:

To the Officers, Board of Directors, and Members of the White House Correspondents’
Association (WHCA):

In April, hundreds of veteran journalists called on the White House Correspondents’
Association to use its Correspondents’ Dinner to forcefully oppose the Trump
administration’s attacks on journalists and on freedom of the press.

The WHCA rescheduled the dinner for this Friday, July 24th, after a gunman brought an
abrupt and terrifying end to the April event.

Since that evening, the administration’s attacks on journalists and press freedom have
become even more egregious. The President’s Department of Justice has
subpoenaed journalists and their phone records. President Trump has threatened to
revoke licenses of broadcasters who refuse to acquiesce to his demands.

Yet, the White House Correspondents’ Association still plans on hosting the President
at its rescheduled dinner.

Our message to the White House Correspondents’ Association is now more urgent:
forcefully stand up for freedom of the press in front of the President, publicly defend the
journalists he attacks, and vow to resist his administration’s concerted effort to
undermine the First Amendment.

WHCA President Weijia Jiang says the dinner’s purpose is “to celebrate the First
Amendment and the hard daily work of the journalists who defend it.”

We believe it is hypocritical to celebrate the First Amendment in front of the man who
relentlessly attacks it. We urge the WHCA to condemn the administration’s actions from
the podium and pledge to fight all attempts by his administration to undermine this core
pillar of a functioning democracy.

Recent Trump Administration Attacks on Freedom of the Press

UPDATED: When the Kennedy Center honored Bill Maher with its Mark Twain Prize at a ceremony last month, there were a number of jokes at the expense of the center’s chairman, Donald Trump, who was not present.

One quip, though, did not make it into the stream of the ceremony that debuted on Tuesday: A joke that seemingly referenced Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Honoring Maher, Whitney Cummings said at the ceremony, “I actually heard Trump may come tonight, but he couldn’t make it. He got caught in sex traffic.”

In an audience that included some Trump administration figures, the biting joke got some oohs, and laughs.

So what happened?

Cummings posted on X on Tuesday that Netflix did not cut anything from her set. A Netflix spokesperson said, “While it’s our preference not to cut jokes from anyone’s set, The Kennedy Center has the contractual right to do so.”

Netflix has had the rights to the ceremony under a rights deal with the center, which is controlled by Trump and a board dominated by his allies.

A source close to the production said, “Edits to a show are always made in a collaborative way to produce the best product for broadcast.” The show is trimmed each year for time constraints, including last year, when Conan O’Brien was honored.

But on her podcast earlier this month, Cummings talked about the situation, noting that the joke was “already out there” given press reporting on the ceremony. “But then they said, ‘We need to cut it from the broadcast.’ I’m like, well, it’s already out there. Who cares?’ They’re like, ‘He will sue you.’”

Cummings said that while she wasn’t trying to be the “bratty” comedian saying, “I’m on the front lines.”

“I don’t care. It’s like, ‘Great. Cut it.’ But this is the Mark Twain Prize. This is the only time that you shouldn’t get censored, because it’s about comedians using humor to criticize our elected officials. So I was in this jam where I was like … ‘I need to fight for this joke because it’s the Mark Twain Prize, and this is the time I feel like I have to. But also, I don’t want anyone losing their job. But if it’s just about him suing me, I was like, ‘Okay.’ I mean, I have to fly to DC, which is kind of annoying. But I would win.”

Cummings posted on X, “I was super clear that Netflix did not cut anything from my Mark Twain prize set. Netflix always supports comedy and comics. Quit spreading rumors ya weirdos.”

Throughout the ceremony, Maher was honored as a champion for free expression, with humor that skewered the right and the left. During her tribute, Cummings called Maher a “warrior for free speech.” Then she quipped, “He believes you should be able to say anything at anytime, especially when someone else is mid sentence.”

Shortly after he returned to office, Trump ousted the center’s board members who were appointed by Joe Biden and Barack Obama, ensuring that he would be elected its chairman, a first for a sitting president.