Trump to Skip White House Correspondents Dinner Again

Donald Trump will once again avoid the traditional roasting of the president at the White House Correspondents Dinner after confirming he will not attend the event for the second year running. The annual dinner, traditionally attended by the president and vice president, will take place April 28 to celebrate the role of the free press. The White House Correspondents Association said in a statement Friday: “The White House has informed us that the president does not plan to participate in this year’s dinner but that he will actively encourage members of the Executive Branch to attend and join us as we celebrate the First Amendment. In keeping with tradition, press secretary Sarah Sanders also will represent the administration at the head table.” Trump was infamously roasted by President Obama at the 2011 dinner for his belief in the birther conspiracy.

I mean he pulled the same stunt last year and with the amount of attacks he's been launching against major media houses, this should not come as a surprise.

Hi everyone? I think this is because Trump will be holding a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania instead. The last president to miss the dinner had a compelling excuse: Ronald Reagan, in 1981, had been shot a few weeks earlier, and was recuperating at Camp David. But he managed to speak at the ceremony via telephone.

The correspondent's dinner offers a chance, once a year, for the executive to express solidarity with the work that journalist do.