Even email signatures are now part of the culture war.
The Trump White House is refusing to answer emails from reporters who include pronouns in their signatures. That policy has sparked both praise and criticism.
According to the New York Times, the White House claims those reporters “deny biological reality” and lack journalistic integrity. Some government agencies are reportedly following suit.
Listing pronouns—like He/Him or They/Them—is seen by critics as unnecessary virtue-signaling. Supporters argue it's about basic respect for people's identities.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital, “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.”
The Daily Wire's Mary Margaret Olahan backed the move.
“Pronouns in your bio is an overtly political statement, and about sexual preference too! Wildly inappropriate for anyone in a professional context,” she said.
“Also, they can answer whoever they want,” she added, noting she was often ignored or met with “catty” responses by the Biden White House.
Ruthless Podcast co-host John Ashbrook, who recently sat in the “new media” seat at a press briefing, didn’t mind the policy.
“No White House has ever been more transparent out of the gate,” Ashbrook told Fox News Digital.
Another correspondent called the policy “amusing” and said it may not be strictly enforced. They noted most reporters bypass email for Signal or text anyway.
One reporter said they had “no clue” what to think of the stance. Others just keep asking in person.
The New York Times slammed the policy as evasive.
“Evading tough questions certainly runs counter to transparent engagement with free and independent press reporting,” a spokesperson said. “But refusing to answer a straightforward request to explain the administration's policies because of the formatting of an email signature is both a concerning and baffling choice, especially from the highest press office in the U.S. government.”
Former Biden press secretary Andrew Bates accused the Trump team of distraction.
"That's the Trump White House admitting how weak he is after shattering his top economic promises with the biggest middle-class tax hike in modern history," he told Fox News Digital. "The subtext is, ‘So I know my tariffs are raising the everyday prices I ran on lowering and hollowing out you 401(k)s – but will you shut up and be happy if I randomly push a few reporters around?’"
Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall criticized the move.
"For the White House to single people out on that, I just think it’s a bad look," she said on Outnumbered. “It’s not a kitchen table issue.”
Despite the policy, The Washington Post reported that some of its reporters who use pronouns still received responses from White House officials.
Trump’s second-term focus on gender identity has included executive orders banning transgender people from the military, excluding trans women from women’s sports, and scrubbing gender identity language from government documents.