Without Donald Trump: US President again skips press dinner

Already in his first term, US President Donald Trump (78) waived the visit to the traditional White House Correspondents’ Dinners in Washington, DC and also on Saturday evening Trump, who had attended the funeral of Pope Franziskus (1936-2025) in Rome, far from the festive occasion in the ballroom of the Washington Hotels. A few weeks ago, it became known that a Trump-critical comedian was unloaded by the event.

Usually the current US President is put on the grain with a humorous speech at the correspondent dinner. But US journalist Eugene Daniels, the President of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), had already explained the loading of comedian Amber Ruffin with the words at the end of March:

“At this serious time for journalism, I want to make sure that the focus is not on a policy of division, but only on the award of our colleagues for their extraordinary work and the awarding of scholarships and mentors to the next generation of journalists.”

So the focus of the evening was actually on the appreciation of journalistic glossy performance from the past twelve months. There was also significantly fewer Hollywood prominence than with previous press Dinners. For example “The White Lotus” star Jason Isaacs, who was known to Dean Norris or singer and actress Lynda Carter, who once embodied “Wonder Woman” from “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul”.

The focus of the glamorous event was based on journalists as such again. US media stars such as the CNN moderators Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash took part in the event. US President Donald Trump had not appeared three times in his first term in the traditional correspondent dinner before the event 2020 failed due to the corona pandemic. On the evening of April 26, Trump could also have had a private obligation. His wife Melania (55) also celebrates her 55th birthday in Rome on the day of the Pope burial in Rome.