President Trump escalated his ongoing feud with the media on Saturday by announcing he won’t be going to the White House Correspondents Association Dinner in April.
“I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
I will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017
Trump has been locked in a war with the media for most of his time as a politician, going so far as to call the news media the “enemy of the American people” last week.
In recent days, reports began circulating that some media organizations were considering whether to hold their traditional parties during the weekend or even attend the dinner whatsoever.
The dinner is traditionally a night for the media and the politicians they cover to get together over dinner and drinks to share a few laughs. The president typically does a comedic speech followed by a famous comedian who roasts everyone with jokes at the dinner.
Trump himself was the butt of a number of jokes in 2011, both from President Obama and comedian Seth Myers. While the crowd laughed, Trump sat through the dinner stone-faced and it’s been said that he decided at that moment to run for president as a way to get back at the establishment types laughing at him.
Jeff Mason, a correspondent for Reuters who leads the White House Correspondents Association, said the dinner would go ahead as planned.
“The White House Correspondents’ Association looks forward to having its annual dinner on April 29. The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trump’s announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic,” Mason said.
“We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession.”
On Friday, controversy erupted at Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer excluding a number of mainstream outlets from a small on-the-record meeting at the White House. Mason said the association was unhappy about the situation.
“The WHCA board is protesting strongly against how today’s gaggle is being handled by the White House,” Mason said in a statement. “We encourage the organizations that were allowed in to share the material with others in the press corps who were not. The board will be discussing this further with White House staff.”
