President Trump stunned Washington insiders Monday by announcing that he will attend this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25 — after snubbing journalists and skipping all prior dinners during his presidency.
“The White House Correspondents Association has asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner, a long and storied tradition since it began in 1924, under then President Calvin Coolidge,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“In honor of our Nation’s 250th Birthday, and the fact that these ‘Correspondents’ now admit that I am truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T., according to many, it will be my Honor to accept their invitation, and work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER!”
Trump added: “Because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me, FAKE NEWS ALL, right from the beginning of my First Term, I boycotted the event, and never went as Honoree. However, I look forward to being with everyone this year. Hopefully, it will be something very Special.”
In prior years, Trump skipped the dinner and ordered all subordinates to do the same — often hosting competing events the same evening, drawing eyeballs away from the black-tie affair and sapping its luster.
White House insiders had expected Trump to boycott it again this year.
“We’re happy the president has accepted our invitation and look forward to hosting him,” said Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang of CBS News.
“For more than 100 years, the journalists of the White House Correspondents’ Association have enjoyed an evening with the president, a dinner that celebrates the First Amendment while supporting the work we do including awards honoring excellent journalism and scholarships to help the next generation of reporters who someday will be the ones asking the questions at the White House.”
Trump, at the time a billionaire real estate developer and host of “The Apprentice,” attended the dinner in 2011 before his first term and found himself the butt of jokes made by then-President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers.
“Donald Trump is here tonight! Now, 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 joked.
“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?”
Meyers, meanwhile, said: “Donald Trump often talks about running as a Republican, which is surprising. I just assumed he was running as a joke.”
Trump has said that he was honored by Obama’s ridicule — and denied rumors that he ultimately ran for president in 2016 because he was infuriated by his treatment.
“When I ultimately announced, people [said] I announced because of that night, I’m going to get even — I didn’t even think of it. It’s so ridiculous. It’s just made-up fiction,” Trump told The Post in a 2020 interview.
“[Obama] treated me very nicely. You know, it was fun, but he treated me with respect,” Trump said.
“That no-talent comic [Meyers] was nasty — ‘marble mouth’, because he can’t speak properly … The guy’s got no talent whatsoever. Zero. How do these guys get jobs? I don’t get it.”
This year’s entertainer will be “mentalist” Oz Pearlman, who specializes in mind-reading and mind-control performances.
