Faced with the Prospect of Criticism at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump Chooses Cowardice

After much speculation, President Trump will be skipping this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 28.

A statement by White House Correspondents’ associate president and Bloomberg reporter Margaret Tavev reads (per the L.A. Times), “The White House has informed us that the president does not plan to participate in this year’s dinner but that he will actively encourage members of the executive branch to attend and join us as we celebrate the First Amendment.”

President Trump also skipped last year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, after which he was skewered by the media for not showing up and was roasted by The Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj in his speech at the dinner. While Minhaj was last year’s host, this year’s will be The Daily Show’s Michelle Wolf, who also scored a forthcoming talk show on Netflix.

While no members of the Trump camp were in attendance last year, Talev said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders would be there to represent the administration. The White House did not immediately comment and it is unknown whether other Trump officials are planning to attend.

Trump famously attended the event as a celebrity guest back in 2011, where comedian Seth Meyers openly mocked rumors that Trump was running for president and when the cameras showed Trump’s reaction, he didn’t look very pleased.