Donald Trump is expected to make his first appearance as president at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington on Saturday, bringing his administration’s often-controversial relationship with the press into full public view.
Trump’s movements will likely be the focus of attention at events held by press groups covering Trump and his administration. The presidents who have attended have generally talked about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, with some light sarcasm about individual journalists.
The Republican president did not attend either his first term or the first year of his second term. He was a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as Democratic President Barack Obama cracked a joke about New York real estate developers. President Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
Past dinners have even featured comedians who poke fun at the president. This year, the group has chosen to use The Mentalist Oz Perlman as its featured entertainment.
Mr. Trump’s planned appearance reignites a long-running debate about whether it’s bad for dinners and similar events, especially when journalists are seen socializing with their interview subjects. The New York Times, for example, stopped attending the dinner more than a decade ago for that reason.
Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, wrote that “what was once a benevolent night of fundraising and camaraderie between professional adversaries is now just a bad name.”
contentious relationship
The administration’s hostility toward journalists has been a hallmark of Trump’s second term, including censuring individual reporters, court battles with organizations like the Times, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press, and restricting media access to the Pentagon.
On the eve of the dinner, about 500 former journalists signed a petition calling on the association to “demonstrate our strong opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample on press freedom.”
“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner once again demonstrated the importance of the First Amendment to our democracy,” said WHCA President Weijia Jiang, CBS News reporter. “Our choice to gather journalists, news reporters, and the president in the same room as we celebrate America’s 250th anniversary is a reminder of what freedom of the press means to this country and why it must endure. Not for the media or the president, but for the people who depend on it.”
However, many reporters in attendance believe this is a valuable opportunity to get story ideas and build personal connections with government officials that could be rewarded with return calls in the future.
Some news organizations invite sources as guests
Journalists often invite their sources to dinner as guests. It will be interesting to see on Saturday whether and with whom government officials, who have also expressed hostility toward the press, will attend.
The Associated Press invited former White House chief of staff Taylor Budowicz, who left for the private sector last fall. The invitation is notable because Mr. Budowicz is responsible for shaping White House communications policy and was the named defendant last year when the Associated Press sued the administration for reducing its access to the president after the news organization did not follow Mr. Trump’s lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
“We are inherently nonpartisan and maintain professional relationships with people across the political spectrum because we are focused on reporting the facts that benefit the public,” said Associated Press Press Secretary Patrick Max.
White House correspondents will also be presenting awards for exemplary reporting. They include articles that made Trump uncomfortable, such as a Journal article about a birthday message he once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story led to a presidential lawsuit.
