Trump, US media in open war on annual dinner date

It’s meant to be the annual Washington love-in, a dinner where White House journalists and the president yuck it up in a hotel ballroom. But, President Donald Trump will stand up his dates. Members of the White House Correspondents’ Association, or WHCA, will be decked out in bow ties and gowns at the downtown Washington Hilton.

Trump, however, will be 685 miles (1100 kilometers) away in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for a rally with his baseball cap-wearing supporters. And he’s almost guaranteed to devote a portion of his speech -- like most of his speeches -- to haranguing the “fake news media” or “enemy of the people.”

Although there’s nothing obligatory about attending WHCA dinners, presidents have usually done so at some point during their time in the office every year since the inaugural version in 1921. Ronald Reagan was the last absentee in 1981 and he had a decent excuse: being recently shot in an assassination attempt.

Trump, however, has boycotted what he calls the “boring” and “negative” party for three years in a row -- his entire presidency so far. The gala used to be a glamorous affair where hundreds of journalists, Hollywood celebrities and the president were entertained by a top-drawer comedian or other talents.

Now the celebs have drained away and this year even the comedian is missing. A presidential historian, Ron Chernow, will deliver the main speech instead. “Killing the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” runs the headline of a Columbia Journalism Review article amounting to an obituary for the formerly revered fixture.