President Trump Won't Attend White House Correspondents' Dinner

President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that he would not be attending this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

The event, a chance for the media and the president to put aside their differences and come together for an informal evening, had become a point of contention for both parties, given the relationship between the two and with the president repeatedly calling mainstream media "fake news" and going so far as to brand them the "enemy of the American people." Several prominent news organizations had already announced that they would not be hosting their after parties or attending the dinner.

In the first month of the Trump administration, the president and his aides have branded the media as the opposition party, with his adviser Stephen Bannon, saying in an interview with the New York Times that the media should "keep its mouth shut."

Press secretary Sean Spicer has also shaken things up in the briefing room, breaking with protocol and often giving conservative or lesser known news outlets the opportunity to ask questions first, something that has usually been reserved in the past for mainstream outlets. In his first official interaction with the press in the briefing room, Spicer scolded the press corps for reporting on the crowd sizes at Trump's inauguration, saying it was the most watched inauguration in history, without providing any evidence to the claim. Aerial photos compared to previous inaugurations showed that the crowd sizes at Trump's inauguration were smaller in comparison to past ceremonies.

On Friday, several major news outlets, including CNN and The New York Times, were excluded from a briefing with Spicer.

While Trump calls the media "fake" and the "enemy," a new survey from Public Policy Polling, a Democratic firm with a strong reputation, suggests that a majority of people have greater faith in the press compared to the White House.

Jeff Mason, WHCA president, issued a statement saying the dinner would go on as usual.

Below is Mason's full statement:

"The White House Correspondents' Association looks forward to having its annual dinner on April 29. The WHCA takes note of President Donald Trump's announcement on Twitter that he does not plan to attend the dinner, which has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic. We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession."

Trump has a complicated history with The White House Correspondents' Dinner. The Times' Maggie Haberman reported in March that Trump's deep desire to be taken seriously in politics began after the 2011 dinner when then President Barack Obama used Trump's run for the presidency as the subject matter for one of his jokes.

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