Trump To Attend White House Correspondents' Dinner
Trump will attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25, marking his first attendance as president.
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Overview
President Donald Trump posted on his social media site that he will attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25, the first time he has accepted the invitation while serving as president.
His decision reverses a boycott he said he maintained because "the Press was extraordinarily bad to me" and "FAKE NEWS ALL," he wrote on Truth Social.
White House Correspondents' Association president Weijia Jiang said the association welcomed his decision and looks forward to hosting him.
The dinner dates to 1921, Calvin Coolidge was the first president to attend in 1924, and the event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The event is scheduled for April 25 at the Washington Hilton and will feature mentalist Oz Pearlman as entertainer, the association said.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the story mildly critically, highlighting spectacle over ceremony. Editorial choices—phrases like "proved prophetic" and "unprecedented ways," specific details about lawn paving, "copious amounts of gold" and demolished East Wing—emphasize ostentation. Source selection centers presidential quotes and WHCA comment, while omitting administration justification or renovation rationale, shaping a critical cumulative narrative.
FAQ
Trump boycotted the dinner throughout his first presidency (2017-2019 and again in 2025), citing his criticism of the press as "fake news" and claiming journalists were "extraordinarily bad" to him[2]. His decision to attend in 2026 represents a significant reversal. According to Trump's Truth Social post, he accepted the invitation because he was asked "very nicely" to be the "honoree" at this year's gala, and he framed his attendance as honoring the nation's 250th birthday[2]. The White House Correspondents Association welcomed his attendance, though there is no clear evidence the organization formally designated him as an honoree[2].
No. Trump was the exception during his first presidency, making him the first president to skip the dinner in 36 years when he declined to attend in 2017[3]. However, every other president since Calvin Coolidge, who became the first presidential attendee in 1924, has attended at least once during their term[1][3]. The dinner has only been canceled three times in its nearly 100-year history: in 1930 following the death of former President William Howard Taft, in 1942 after the country entered World War II, and in 1951 because of the Korean War[3].
The White House Correspondents' Dinner is a bipartisan event that celebrates press freedom and serves as a light-hearted Washington affair, often featuring comedic roasts of administration officials[2]. Beyond entertainment, the dinner honors young and veteran journalists with scholarships and awards, with proceeds from ticket sales funding these accolades[3]. The event dates back to 1921, when the first dinner was held at the Arlington Hotel with 50 men in attendance[3].
Trump previously attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2011 as a guest of the Washington Post, where he was roasted by then-President Barack Obama over the "birther" conspiracy theory[4]. The scathing remarks reportedly did not sit well with Trump, and some political commentators have suggested the dinner's roasting may have influenced his 2016 presidential run[4]. Trump denied this connection, but his subsequent criticism of the press as "fake news" and "enemies of the people" led him to boycott the dinner throughout his first presidency, stating the press was "extraordinarily bad" to him.
Trump's long boycott of the dinner significantly impacted Republican attendance. Former Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted that "any Republican will be few and far between" at the dinner, as Republicans historically viewed it as one of the hottest tickets in Washington but took cues from Trump's boycott[5]. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated she would not attend the 2025 dinner[5], indicating that some members of Trump's administration may continue to skip the event despite his attendance in 2026.
