Journalists urge protest of Trump at correspondents' dinner

President Donald Trump is expected to attend The White House Correspondents' Dinner this weekend for the first time as commander in chief, prompting backlash from more than 200 journalists, journalism organizations and press freedom groups.

In an open letter, the coalition urged the event's organizer, the White House Correspondents’ Association, to use the dinner to defend press freedom amid ongoing threats to the First Amendment, many of which have been spearheaded by the administration. While some attendees have pledged to wear pins on their gowns and lapels in subtle protest, the group of journalists is urging the association to go a step further and directly condemn the president for dozens of actions they say are intended to undermine the nation's press freedoms.

"We, the undersigned, call upon the White House Correspondents' Association to use the occasion of the White House Correspondents' Dinner to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press," the April 20 letter said.

"Speak forcefully," the letter adds, "in front of the man who seeks to undermine our country’s long tradition of an independent, strong, and free press."

Signatories include some of the nation's largest journalism and press freedom organizations, including the Society of Professional Journalists, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the National Association of Black Journalists and the Coalition for Women in Journalism. Several prominent journalists also signed the letter, among them former "Today" show co-host Ann Curry and longtime CBS News anchor Dan Rather.

"There is a long tradition of presidents attending the White House Correspondents Association Dinner," the latter added. "But these are not normal times, and this cannot be business as usual with the press standing up to applaud the man who attacks them on a daily basis."

The group urged the White House Correspondents' Association, which has hosted the swanky Washington, DC, event for decades, to "not normalize this behavior" from the administration, and to "fight back."

The letter explicitly called out the Trump administration for dozens of actions taken since the president returned to the White House in January 2024, saying it has been "the most systematic and comprehensive assault on freedom of the press by a sitting American president."

They point to the administration's deluge of lawsuits against media organizations and journalists, its defunding of public broadcasting, bans on press access − such as temporarily barring the Associated Press from the White House and effectively dismantling the Pentagon press corps − and regulatory investigations into media organizations, such as those launched and threatened by the Federal Communications Commission.

The dinner, dubbed by Washington observers as "nerd prom," raises funds to support the White House Correspondents' Association's First Amendment scholarships and programs to promote its work. It typically features a litany of notable names from media and politics, and has, since its inception more than 100 years ago, become a staple event in Washington, DC, political circles.

During Trump's first term, he became the first president to skip the dinner in more than 30 years. President Calvin Coolidge began the tradition of the presidential appearance and customary speech at the event when he attended it in 1924.

Yet the dinner has also been criticized over the years by journalists, who take issue with the chummy atmosphere it fosters between reporters and the power brokers they spend their days covering.

The letter called the dinner a "symbol of the vital and irreplaceable role of a free press in American democracy," and Trump's attacks on the free press "render his presence at such an event a profound contradiction of its purpose."

In recent years, the association has selected a comic to serve as the master of ceremonies, and the president has taken a shot at performing his own jokes to the glitzy crowd. This year, instead of comedians such as Seth Meyers and Trevor Noah, mentalist Oz Pearlman will preside over the dinner.

Trump attended the annual event before he took the White House. His most notable appearance was in 2011, when he was on the receiving end of barbs from former President Barack Obama over his support for "birther" conspiracies questioning Obama's U.S. citizenship.

Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY

Kathryn Palmer is a politics reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at[email protected] and on X @KathrynPlmr. Sign up for her daily politics newsletterhere.