U.S. President Donald Trump will attend the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) annual dinner for the first time since taking office.
According to reports from major outlets including Reuters on the 25th (local time), President Trump is scheduled to attend the WHCA dinner to be held that afternoon and deliver a speech of about 40 minutes. Unlike the custom of the sitting president attending this event without fail, President Trump has consistently skipped it. He did not appear at last year's dinner, which was the first since the launch of his second administration as well as during his first term.
On Mar. 2, he said on Truth Social, "I skipped before because the media treated me particularly badly," adding, "Now they recognize me as one of the greatest presidents in our country's history and the greatest of all time (G.O.A.T.)." He continued, "I am honored to accept their invitation, and I will make it the most grand, hottest, and most glamorous dinner in history."
The media industry is in an uproar over the president's attendance at the dinner. The progressive-leaning outlet HuffPost declared it would skip the event. Whitney Snyder, HuffPost's editor, criticized it in a column as an "insult to a free press." More than 350 former and current journalists, including former CBS anchor Dan Rather, and groups such as the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) sent a letter to the WHCA urging it to use this dinner as an opportunity to oppose a presidential move that disregards a free press. Some journalists plan to wear ornaments inscribed with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression, at the dinner.
The WHCA drew a line, saying the dinner's essence lies in highlighting press freedom. Weijia Jiang, the WHCA president, said in a statement, "Reporters, newsmakers, and the president gathering in one space is a symbol of what a free press means to this country," adding, "It's not for the media or the president, but for the public who depend on the press."
President Trump has recently remained at odds with the media. He filed a defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) over an article about a birthday card he signed, but it was dismissed in federal court earlier this month. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairperson pressured the government by saying they would investigate late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who is critical of the administration. On the other hand, some say President Trump offers greater media access than any predecessor through his own social media and frequent press conferences.