President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed this week that the administration has adopted a formal policy of refusing to respond to journalists who include pronouns in their email signatures.
According to the New York Times, multiple Trump administration officials—including Leavitt and Katie Miller, a senior adviser at the Department of Government Efficiency—have declined to respond to reporters from the Times and Crooked Media due to the presence of pronouns in their contact information.
Leavitt, in a direct statement to the New York Times, said, “As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios.” She further commented, “Any reporter who chooses to put their preferred pronouns in their bio clearly does not care about biological reality or truth and therefore cannot be trusted to write an honest story.”
Miller echoed the same sentiment, writing, “As a matter of policy, I don’t respond to people who use pronouns in their signatures as it shows they ignore scientific realities and therefore ignore facts.” Both officials reiterated that the refusal to engage applies broadly across all press inquiries containing pronouns in email bios.
The New York Times and its reporters expressed frustration with the policy. One correspondent, Matt Berg, said he tested the theory by adding “he/him” to his signature and received no response. The Times issued a statement calling the policy “baffling” and “concerning,” arguing that it undermines transparent engagement with a free press.
The administration’s approach marks a significant departure from traditional White House press engagement standards, signaling a cultural and ideological shift aligned with the Trump administration’s broader positions on gender identity and media relations.
Critics argue that this policy reflects a deliberate attempt to delegitimize journalists based on cultural indicators, while supporters view it as a stand against what they see as left-wing ideological influence in media and language.
