Donald Trump pulls out of White House Correspondents’ dinner

Donald Trump pulls out of White House Correspondents’ dinner – Donald Trump will snub the White House press corps and not attend the annual correspondents’ dinner traditionally addressed by US presidents.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner tends to be one of the lighter events on the political calendar. Over the last eight years, Barack Obama used it to mock people in Washington D.C. himself and beyond, following a tradition set by Presidents past. The White House Correspondents’ Association is an organization of journalists whose job it is to cover the president.
The yearly dinner has become somewhat of a Washington tradition after it was started in 1920. It is traditionally held on the last Saturday of April every year at the Washington Hilton.

However, this year, President Trump has announced that he wont attend this year’s dinner but gave no reason why he wouldn’t go. His announcement comes amid growing tensions between his administration and media outlets, he calls the FAKE NEWS.

Whatever the reasoning, it’s a bold move even for Trump. The last American president to skip the Correspondents’ Dinner was Ronald Reagan in 1981, who was busy trying to recover from an assassination attempt. Despite missing the dinner, Reagan was able to phone in to participate in the dinner.

Trump attended the dinner in 2011 with his wife Melania where he was repeatedly mocked by then-president Barack Obama.
He skipped the dinner in 2016 during the presidential campaign where Obama again took aim at the then-candidate, saying:

‘I’m a little hurt that he’s not here tonight. It’s surprising. You got a room full of reporters, celebrities, cameras, and he says no.’

In the past, the event has been cancelled for whatever reason but no president has declined to attend the event.
While he has not cancelled the event, Trump is breaking tradition by not attending the dinner on April 29.

The President, tweeted on Saturday; “I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!”

Recall Trump earlier barred news organizations, including the BBC, from a White House press briefing, denouncing them as “fake news”.

CNN, New York Times, The Guardian, The Daily Mail and others were also blocked from the meeting on Friday in a move that has angered supporters of a free press’s role in a democracy. Read More