President Donald Trump mentioned Monday he will attend this yr’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a notable reversal after boycotting the annual occasion historically attended by presidents.
“The White House Correspondents Association has asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner, a long and storied tradition since it began in 1924, under then President Calvin Coolidge,” the president mentioned in a Truth Social post, including that in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday, he will attend and “work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER!”
Trump was the first president to not attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner whereas in workplace, boycotting the annual Washington gathering throughout his first time period and the first yr of his second. He has steadily criticized the event and the news media more broadly, at instances labeling journalists “the enemy of the American people,” a sentiment he referenced in his Monday put up.
“Because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me, FAKE NEWS ALL, right from the beginning of my First Term, I boycotted the event, and never went as Honoree,” he mentioned, earlier than signaling a change in tone: “I look forward to being with everyone this year.”
“For more than 100 years, the journalists of the White House Correspondents’ Association have enjoyed an evening with the president,” mentioned Weijia Jiang, president of the affiliation, occurring to spotlight the dinner’s custom of celebrating the First Amendment and awarding scholarships.
“We’re happy the president has accepted our invitation and look forward to hosting him,” mentioned Jiang, CBS News’ senior White House correspondent.
Although Trump has by no means attended as president, he did attend the dinner earlier than taking workplace, most famously in 2011, when then-President Barack Obama roasted him throughout his remarks.
Relations between the White House and the White House Correspondents’ Association have remained strained since the begin of Trump’s second time period. The administration has altered long-standing press entry preparations, together with changing the management of the White House press pool and restricting access to the press secretary’s workplace.
The dinner, set for April 25 at the Washington Hilton, is understood for its laughs and lighthearted moments. In more moderen years, they’ve featured a speaker — often a comic — roasting the commander in chief.
Last yr, the affiliation scrapped plans to function comic Amber Ruffin as the dinner’s headliner and as an alternative mentioned it might focus the occasion on celebrating the First Amendment and the function of a free press, a transfer extensively considered as reflective of tensions with the Trump administration.