WASHINGTON DC — President Donald Trump will attend the White House Correspondents' Dinner this year, marking his first appearance at the event as president. It will be Trump's first time at the dinner since 2011, when then reality TV host Trump was roasted by President Barack Obama.

"The White House Correspondents' Dinner reinforces the importance of the First Amendment in our democracy," said Weijia Jiang, White House correspondent and chair of the White House Correspondents' Association. "As we mark America's 250th birthday, our choice to gather as journalists, newsmakers and the president in the same room is a reminder of what a free press means to this country and why it must endure."

Trump's attendance comes after a year of confrontations between his administration and news organizations. Over the last 12 months, Trump referred to a female reporter as "piggy" and described news coverage of the war in Iran as "almost treasonous." He pressed Congress to rescind previously approved funding for NPR and PBS, called for television networks he disliked to lose their license to broadcast, and threatened to jail reporters if they did not reveal confidential sources for reporting on the war in Iran.

Trump's lawyer sent letters to CNN and a newspaper threatening to sue over their reporting on the U.S. June 2025 bombing campaign in Iran. Trump also filed lawsuits against a financial newspaper, a national newspaper, and the BBC. Last year, the Trump White House cut off access for a wire service after the organization refused to use the name Gulf of America instead of Gulf of Mexico.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth compared reporters to the biblical Pharisees and accused the press of rooting against the country. His agency stripped access for defense reporters and mocked networks that lost their workspaces.

Peter Baker, a White House correspondent, is skipping the dinner, as he does every year. "Every president I've covered, they're all mad at us," Baker said. "I don't remember any of them questioning the very foundation of independent media, and he does."

Sam Donaldson, a longtime television correspondent, said it was correct for the association to invite Trump. "Let's not lower ourselves to his level," Donaldson said. Recalling an earlier president's treatment of the press corps, he said, "He treated us royally, in many ways. And I don't mean just: 'Let's have a dinner for the reporters,' but he would call people up in the hospital and wish them well."

Former journalists sent a letter to the White House Correspondents' Association urging the organizers to oppose Trump's actions against the press during the dinner. The organizers of the letter-writing campaign did not reach out to the association before sending their requests.