The White House is ignoring e-mails from journalists who list their preferred gender pronouns in the signature line.
The Trump administration says the policy will filter out reporters who put ideology above truth and accuracy.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been pushing back on the transgender movement, which has grown increasingly unpopular. Trump has focused especially on the impact of transgender policies on women and girls.
As a matter of policy, the White House recognizes two biological sexes. Consistent with that stance, the administration is snubbing journalists who fail to acknowledge biological reality.
The New York Times reported the new approach, saying some of its reporters have been dismissed by White House officials.
“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,” DOGE adviser Katie Miller wrote in one e-mail. “This applies to all reporters who have pronouns in their signature.”
“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," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told the New York Times.
The New York Times issued a statement condemning the administration's policy as a petty and "baffling" choice.
This is not the first time the administration has clashed with its media critics over language.
The White House has sought to block the Associated Press over its continued use of "Gulf of Mexico", which the AP has maintained for convenience and tradition, despite Trump renaming it the Gulf of America.
Of course, it is not the usual practice in today's media to be so tenaciously conservative about words. Associated Press style uses newfangled terms like "gender-affirming care" and urges writers to always refer to individuals by their preferred pronouns. The results, for readers, are not seldom confusing: stories about women's sports, for example, refer to males as transgender "women."
The Trump administration's efforts to corral the "Fake News" have not been successful all of the time. A federal judge this week ordered the White House to restore access to the AP on First Amendment grounds.
“Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists -- be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere -- it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints,” U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden wrote.
