Trump to attend White House Correspondents' Dinner
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Trump at the White House on March 2. Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg/Getty Images
President Trump on Monday confirmed he will be accepting an invitation to this year's White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Why it matters: Trump never attended the event that's historically known for poking fun at presidents and their policies during either of his presidential terms.
What they're saying: "We're happy the president has accepted our invitation and look forward to hosting him," the White House Correspondents' Association President Weijia Jiang said in a statement.
Context: Since 1921, the WHCA has held the annual dinner, which supports journalists working to cover the administration and creates programs and events to highlight the First Amendment.
- This year's event on April 25 will also help fund scholarships for promising journalism students.
- Mentalist and mind-reader Oz Pearlman will be the 2026 headliner, WHCA announced last Thursday.
Flashback: At the 2011 dinner, then-President Obama made several jokes about Trump.
- "I know that he's taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder, to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald," Obama said, referencing a claim Trump and other Republicans spread about his citizenship status.
- "And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter — like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?" Obama added.
Of note: Even without Trump's attendance last year, headliner Amber Ruffin's appearance was canceled due to comments she made about the president.
- On a Daily Beast podcast talking about her preparations for the dinner, Ruffin referred to the Trump administration officials as "kind of a bunch of murderers."
Go deeper: Michelle Wolf's vulgar anti-Trump jokes draw intense criticism
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional details throughout.
