The White House Correspondents Association, the long-standing representative for the press corps covering U.S. presidents and the White House, issued a statement today denouncing the move by presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to “arbitrarily ban” the Washington Post and other news organizations from his campaign events, citing the First Amendment.

“Any nominee for the highest office in the country must respect the role of a free and adversarial press, not disown the principles of the First Amendment just because he or she does not like the tone or content of their coverage,” the statement from the current association president Carol Lee said.