General Discussion

In a powerful open letter, retired star journalists Rather (94) and Donaldson (92), along with more than 250 other members of the press, are urging the White House Correspondents’ Association to stop the usual polite nonsense and use this week’s dinner to directly confront Donald Trump’s unprecedented attacks on the free press.

The letter states that Trump’s “systematic, sustained, and unprecedented” assault on journalism – including retaliatory bans, lawsuits, defunding public broadcasting, arrests of reporters, and constant verbal attacks – makes it impossible for the dinner to continue as “business as usual.”

They are calling on the WHCA to issue a strong, public defense of the First Amendment from the podium, deliver a direct condemnation of Trump’s behavior, and toast the Constitution in front of the man who has spent years trying to destroy press freedom.

This is a remarkable moment: some of the most respected names in American journalism are saying enough is enough. Enough normalizing. Enough smiling and clapping while Trump attacks the free press every single day.

The letter makes clear that freedom of the press is not a partisan issue but a cornerstone of democracy, and must be defended.