Trump Reverses Boycott, Will Attend White House Correspondents’ Dinner as Honoree

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he will attend this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a reversal after skipping the event for most of his time in office. The dinner — a long-standing Washington tradition — is scheduled for April 25 at the Washington Hilton.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that "The White House Correspondents Association has asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner, a long and storied tradition since it began in 1924, under then President Calvin Coolidge." He added that, in honor of the nation’s 250th birthday, he will "work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER!"

"Because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me, FAKE NEWS ALL, right from the beginning of my First Term, I boycotted the event, and never went as Honoree," he wrote. "I look forward to being with everyone this year."

Trump was the first sitting president in modern times to largely boycott the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, declining to attend during his first term and the first year of his second term. He has frequently criticized the news media, at times calling journalists "the enemy of the American people," a phrase referenced in his message announcing the attendance.

Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association and CBS News’ senior White House correspondent, welcomed the announcement. "For more than 100 years, the journalists of the White House Correspondents’ Association have enjoyed an evening with the president," she said, emphasizing the dinner’s role in celebrating the First Amendment and awarding scholarships to journalism students.

Although Trump did not attend the dinner while president, he appeared as a guest before taking office — most notably in 2011, when then-President Barack Obama roasted him from the podium. Relations between the White House and the association have remained strained into Trump’s second term, with the administration making changes to long-standing press-access arrangements, including press-pool management and restrictions on access to the press secretary’s office.

In recent years the dinner has been known for lighthearted roast-style commentary and a comedian or speaker who often jests about the commander in chief. Last year, the association scrapped plans to feature comedian Amber Ruffin as the headliner and instead refocused the event on the First Amendment and scholarships — a change widely viewed as reflective of tensions between the association and the administration.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25 will test whether the historic evening can bridge a rift between the president and much of the press corps. CNN’s Donald Judd contributed to this report.