If you were planning to voice your concerns directly to President Trump, today is not the day. The White House’s comment line where you can “Call the President” is closed. Instead, a recorded message asks you to consider contacting him online, using Facebook.
“The comment line is currently closed but your comment is important to the President and we urge you to send us a comment online at www.whitehouse.gov/contact or send us a message through Facebook messenger,” the automated message directs. If you were hoping to reach the switchboard, you need to call from a rotary dial phone. Typically, this switchboard has a staff of operators who can assist callers who want to leave messages for the President and contact his staff. A White House employee told Washingtonian the comments line has been closed since December but the switchboard is still open to take callers using rotary-dial phones.
Correction: A previous version of this article said the White House switchboard was closed. This was incorrect. The White House comments line is closed while the switchboard line is still available for calls coming from a rotary phone.
Rosa joined Washingtonian in 2016 after graduating from Mount Holyoke College. She covers arts and culture for the magazine. She’s written about anti-racism efforts at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, dinosaurs in the revamped fossil hall at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum, and the horrors of taking a digital detox. When she can, she performs with her family’s Puerto Rican folkloric music ensemble based in Jersey City. She lives in Adams Morgan.
