One year ago, Ann Telnaes quit her job at The Washington Post.

Her editor refused to print a cartoon she had drawn showing tech billionaires bowing at Trump’s feet. One of them was Jeff Bezos, the owner of the newspaper. Her editor said that the topic duplicated stories. Ann didn’t agree. She quit, not knowing where she would go next.

Like many other suddenly homeless writes, she started a blog at Substack, where she has a large following and no editor to shut her down.

Ann Telnaes’ gave up her job at The Washington Post when this cartoon was spiked.

She wrote about the past year:

On January 3, 2025 I published “Why I’m quitting the Washington Post” on Substack. When I made my decision to leave, I knew this would be the end of my thirty year career as an editorial cartoonist – but that’s not what happened. For whatever reason the news went viral, not just in the United States but in many countries throughout the world.  Because of you and your incredible support, I continue to draw cartoons and try to shine a light on the criminal behavior of this administration and the ongoing threats to our democracy. Thank you.

Throughout this year I received many invitations to speak about the free press and editorial cartooning, here in the US and internationally. As I’ve mentioned before, public speaking isn’t in my comfort zone but I tried to accept as many as I could because of Trump’s escalating attacks on the free press and also to talk about my profession and hopefully make people more aware of the importance of editorial cartooning.

In February the documentary I appeared in, “Democracy Under Siege”, was screened in Santa Barbara, and then again in New York City at the Doc NYC Selects film festival. In April I traveled to The Hague in the Netherlands, in May to Bergen, Norway, and then on to Switzerland with stops in Geneva, Morges, and Lucerne . 

And in May, to my complete surprise I won the Pulitzer Prize for Illustrative Reporting and Commentary.

Announcement of the Pulitzer Prizes at the Washington Post (where I obviously was not in attendence)

While I visited Geneva,  Patrick Chappatte and I began our collaboration on a book, Censure en Amérique.

Then a few more trips nationally for presentations and panels in DC, University of Kentucky, Ohio State University, University of Minnesota, San Jose State University, ending my year with a speech in Landau, Germany to accept the Thomas Nast Prize. 

The people I talked to while overseas are mystified at what is happening to a country which seems to be willingly letting its democratic principles be hijacked by an immoral conman and his corrupt enablers. After my speech in Landau, I met several expats in the audience who are shocked at how their country has fallen so fast and so far. I share their feelings.

(from my Landau speech)

Every American editorial cartoonist is familiar with Thomas Nast and how he exposed the corrupt 19th century New York politician Boss Tweed through his cartoons. We all have seen the drawing of Tweed and his accomplices depicted as vultures, sitting on a ledge with bones and skulls scattered around them… and also the iconic image of Tweed’s unmistakable portly figure with a large bag of money representing his head. One can only imagine the cartoons Nast would be doing right now about President Donald Trump and his grifting family and cronies. Nast also created the political symbol of the elephant to represent the Republican Party, although I’d like to think that he would have chosen something more reptilian to represent the current spineless GOP.

And I’m sure Thomas Nast would have been outraged at what is happening in his adopted homeland. I too have German roots on my late mother’s side. My late father was Norwegian and I became a naturalized U.S. citizen as a young teenager. Although I am proud of my heritage, I have always considered myself an American. A proud American. So it pains me to see what has happened this past year, with democracy under attack and the principles and ideals which the country was founded on being threatened- including a Free Press, which is an essential part of a democracy. 

Thank you again for all your support and comments. Yes, I read all of them and truly appreciate your insights, humor, and our Substack community. Wishing each of you a happy and healthy New Year.

In an airport (not sure which one)