CNN will not attend the White House Christmas party on Friday "in light of the President's continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN," a spokesperson for the company said, per Politico.
In response, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted, "Christmas comes early! Finally, good news from CNN."
As president and on the campaign trail, Trump has repeatedly called CNN "fake news." He also tweeted a video that shows him punching a man with the CNN logo on his face, and recently tweeted that CNN International was spreading "(Fake) news" around the world. This is something of a reversal: Trump declined to attend the White House Correspondent's Dinner in April.
CNN's full statement:
"CNN will not be attending this year's White House Christmas party. In light of the President's continued attacks on freedom of the press and CNN, we do not feel it is appropriate to celebrate with him as his invited guests. We will send a White House reporting team to the event and report on it if news warrants."
Trump's July tweet:
