The 45th president of the United States will not be attending the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner. This he has informed via a tweet that says, "I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!"
The Correspondents' Dinner which is usually attended by Hollywood celebrities and A-listers in the media world will be celebrating this year sans the newly-elected president.
Trump who has declared that "the media is the enemy of the American people," did not give the reason behind his planned absence at the traditional annual event. The scheduled event on April 29 is a tradition that has been celebrated since 1921. The first president to attend it was Calvin Coolidge in 1924.
In 36 years, it is again this year that a president of the country skips the annual event which is also called the "Nerd Prom" that awards deserving journalists. The last president that skipped the event was Ronald Reagan in 1981 after he was shot in an attempt to assassinate him.
The last president who intentionally skipped the correspondents' gathering twice was Jimmy Carter in 1980 and 1978. The same with Richard Nixon in 1974 and 1972, he also called the press as the enemy of the country.
The announcement came at the time the administration has accused the major media networks of proliferating fake news as per NPR. The CNN and the New York Times were singled out by the president.
On Friday, an off-camera briefing was held headed by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer as reported by BBC. The secretary's office has barred representative of CNN, BBC, The New York Times and Buzzfeed to attend.
White House Correspondents Association president Jeff Mason announced that the association is looking forward to the April 29 event. They have also noted the message of Donald Trump that his presence will not grace the occasion. The White House Correspondents Association Dinner will still see the regular annual event except for those that have reiterated their absence.
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