(Hill) – President Donald Trump is not expected to attend a White House correspondent’s dinner next weekend, Hill confirmed Tuesday.
Trump defeated traditions that date back to several administrations as he did not attend any of his annual dinners during his first semester.
Earlier this year, White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt, when asked by a reporter, did not rule out the possibility that Trump would attend dinner. She said she wouldn’t show up.
“When he makes his decision, I will let you know everything,” she said at the time. “But it’s definitely an interesting choice for a comedian. I’ll talk to my boss and see what we’ve decided.”
The White House Correspondents Association had planned to feature comedian Amber Ruffin as entertainment for the April 26 dinner.
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However, later last month, the WHCA changed courses, with President Eugene Daniels saying the event would no longer feature Ruffin, saying it would “want to focus entirely on awarding colleagues for outstanding work, not on politics of division, and providing scholarships and mentoring to the next generation of journalists.”
Trump’s decision not to attend comes amid an era of rising tensions between the West Wing, the WHCA and more generally the press.
The White House recently ruled who is included in the press pool, banning Associated Press from the pool in the “American Gulf” style.
Last week, a federal judge ordered the White House to restore full access to cover the events of the Associated Press president. This asserted the First Amendment basis that the government cannot punish the press for the content of its speech.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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