President Donald Trump’s press team has decided to ignore requests for statements or quotes from a specific group of journalists, despite being contacted by them regarding significant events and policies.
The White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has announced a new policy where the administration will ignore emails from journalists who include their preferred pronouns in their email signatures.
According to Leavitt, this is because such reporters “do not care about biological reality or truth” and therefore cannot be trusted to write honest stories.
The New York Times reported that senior Trump press aides have consistently ignored reporters’ questions when the journalists include their preferred pronouns in their email signatures. The outlet noted that this practice is widespread and intended to clarify one’s gender identity, convey inclusivity, and show solidarity with transgender and nonbinary individuals.
White House officials have responded to the NYT’s report by criticizing journalists who include preferred pronouns in their email signatures. Steven Cheung, Communications Director, said that if the NYT spent more time reporting truth and less on pronouns, they would be a better publication. Katie Miller, spokeswoman for DOGE, stated that she doesn’t respond to people using pronouns as it shows disregard for scientific realities and facts.
While the Trump administration hasn’t officially confirmed this policy, their presidential campaign account claimed that ignoring emails with pronouns is an official White House policy.
Meg Kilgannon, a former PR expert and Senior Fellow at the Family Research Council, believes that ignoring emails from journalists who include preferred pronouns in their signatures is a way for the White House to identify non-hostile or less hostile media.
She thinks it’s reasonable to assume that reporters using pronouns are not supportive of the president’s agenda and may not provide fair coverage. Kilgannon also suggests that this policy could prompt reporters to remove their pronouns, which she sees as important for “healing our culture from gender insanity”.
Joseph Backholm, a senior fellow for Biblical Worldview at the Family Research Council, believes that an administration acknowledging biological reality is essential for human flourishing. He argues that leaders who can’t acknowledge fundamental truths are incapable of leading effectively.
When it comes to engaging with journalists who include preferred pronouns in their bios, Backholm thinks it’s understandable not to engage with them because they’ve already shown a disregard for truth and will believe whatever makes them happy.
The press policy is part of President Trump’s ongoing effort to defend and promote the “biological reality of sex”. On his first day back in office, he signed an executive order stating that erasing sex from language and policy has a corrosive impact on women and the American system.
The order emphasizes the importance of basing federal policy on truth for scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government. It also criticizes attempts to replace biological reality with internal, fluid, and subjective senses of self that are unmoored from facts.
