Trump decides to skip White House press dinner
Trump decides to skip White House press dinner
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WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that he would not attend the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner, a high-profile event that draws celebrities, politicians and journalists.
"I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!," Trump wrote on Twitter.
On the campaign trail and in the White House, Trump has had a strained relationship with the press, calling journalists "the enemy of the people" and frequently criticizing outlets and individual reporters whose coverage he does not like.
The reporters' group said it would go ahead with its April 29 dinner despite Trump's absence. The Washington event typically draws movie stars, politicians and business leaders to hear a humorous speech by the sitting president.
The dinner "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," said Jeff Mason, a Reuters White House correspondent who heads the association this year.
Ronald Reagan was the last president to sit out the event after he was shot in 1981.
Some news outlets such as Bloomberg News and the New Yorker have said they will not host the lavish after-parties that have been a fixture of past events.
On Friday, the White House excluded several major U.S. news organizations, including some it has criticized, from an off-camera briefing held by the White House press secretary.
Reporters for CNN, The New York Times, Politico, The Los Angeles Times and BuzzFeed were not allowed into the session in the office of press secretary Sean Spicer, a decision that drew strong protests.
The event occasionally makes news: in 2011, President Barack Obama delivered a scathing evisceration of Trump, joking that the mogul, who sat stone-faced in the audience, would move on from questioning Obama's citizenship to figuring out "did we fake the moon landing."
Critics say the event encourages journalists to cozy up to politicians they should cover aggressively.
(Reporting by Mike Stone and Andy Sullivan in Washington; Editing by Mary Milliken and Andrew Hay)
At least Ronnie had a good excuse.
I still can't believe it. This is a huge step backwards for Trump. He'll spin it to his liking, but any intelligent person knows what his absence will really mean.
It means that he's a coward.
Bring on Alex Baldwin...
Bring on Alex Baldwin...
Now that is a good idea. It will be just like Hollywood in their make believe world where there are no homeless, no middle class families trying to make ends meet, no criticism of their egos and they can fill right at home. I expect Obama will be there and it will be like old times.
Just like the world Trump lives in! Perfect!
Obama isn't president any long Six. I hope that your aware of that fact. Or any fact for that matter.
It means he won't give the liberal media an opportunity to attack for their own partisan motivations. Good decision.
He is sinking.
Trump knows the dinner's host will make fun of him.
But worse, he would be called upon to tell jokes too, and he knows he sucks at it. Trump is a horrible public speaker.
It is a mirage and a hoax that he is a good speaker. He has a tiny vocabulary that he butchers every day.
The White House Correspondent's Dinner would not be his type of thing.
How terrible. Trump won't participate in a partisan sideshow./s
The White House Correspondent's Dinner would not be his type of thing.
I don't blame him. I never did care to hangout with a bunch of smug Democrats. Pretty smart actually. His ratings will probably go up after they lambast him all night when the dummies put it all over the TV and the public sees it.
"Since Donald Trump is refusing to take part in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, one actor wants Alec Baldwin to host the event as Trump.
On Saturday evening, Trump tweeted that wouldn’t be taking part in the annual tradition that involves the President of the United States laughing at jokes told at his expense, while telling jokes of his own in front of the White House Press Corps. No president has skipped the annual correspondents’ dinner in three decades .
Zach Braff came up with a brilliant idea. The Scrubs actor tweeted his hopes that Baldwin would bring his legendary SNL impersonation of Trump to the stage."
Brilliant idea! Must see TV!
Maybe Alex can castrate the Supreme Court Justices like Obama did. Now that would be funny, wouldn't it?
I think that Alex Baldwin would be a perfect stand in for Trump...
Just thinking about draws gales of laughter.
Even George W Bush had pretty good stand-up riffs at those dinners. Trump shows no evidence of having a genuine sense of humor. There's millions of pics with him smiling (bigly) but I don't believe I've ever heard him actually laugh out loud in natural way. Kinda odd.
His smiles always look phony. I agree with you, it doesn't seem as if he has any sense of humor at all.
It certainly is a difference from Obama, who was a joke.
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He was a better comedian than a president.
He is a better everything then the thing pretending to be the President now. He was and is a source of real pride. Trump is nothing more then a cause for embarrassment.
Obama was an embarrassment. The first affirmative action president. He certainly did not earn his position.
The first affirmative action president. He certainly did not earn his position.
Now that is a fact!!!
That's a joke.
Six wouldn't know a fact if it hit him in the head.
Do tell if he received the necessary number of electoral votes how he didn't earn the presidency?
With Trump earning even less electoral votes than Obama, he didn't earn the presidency either.
(CNN) Alec Baldwin has two Emmys and an Oscar nomination. But a newspaper in the Dominican Republic may have given the actor his highest praise yet.
He actually does a pretty good impersonation of Trump. I'd like to see them use him for the event. I think it would be funny and be a boost for Trump all at the same time.
And being the nice guy I am I feel it could be therapeutic for them.
Speaking of therapeutic Six, you should follow your own advice.
It's impossible for Donald Trump to be funny, or human for that matter. Good for him to stay away and let the professionals handle it. I'm sure he'll cover it on twitter, in the most moronic terms possible.
A 10 MINUTE ''TIME OUT'' FOR EVERYONE COMMENTING HERE.
NO MORE PERSONAL INSULTS.
AFTER 10 MINUTES PUT DOWN YOUR COLORING BOOKS, WIPE THE SAND OFF YOU BUTTS AND COMMENT WITHOUT INSULTS...LOL IF THAT'S POSSIBLE. (I'm included in this time out)