President Donald Trump will not attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner later this month, continuing his tradition of snubbing the event amid heightened tensions between the White House and the press corps.
The president — who refused to attend any of the dinners throughout his first administration — plans to skip the event once again this year, a White House official familiar with the plans, granted anonymity to discuss the president’s schedule, confirmed to POLITICO on Tuesday.
Trump’s absence from the shindig comes amid a brewing battle between the administration and the White House Correspondents’ Association, as the White House has repeatedly taken aim at the press. The White House in February took over coordination of the press corps’ rotating pool of reporters covering the president, ending decades of precedent. The administration has also targeted specific outlets, barring reporters from the Associated Press from accessing pooled events.
Axios first reported Trump’s plans to skip the dinner.
The April 26 dinner had already been the subject of controversy, as the correspondents’ association had pulled a planned headliner performance by comedian Amber Ruffin after the performer came under fire from administration officials for criticizing the president.
The White House had previously signaled that Trump wouldn’t attend the night’s festivities, with some officials and conservative allies floating the possibility of hosting a rival bash on the same day — which just so happens to be first lady Melania Trump’s birthday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also plans to skip the dinner, she told former press secretary Sean Spicer on his podcast last month.