White House boycott of press dinner

The White House on Tuesday ordered an administrationwide boycott of this weekend’s Correspondents’ Association Dinner, a lighthearted event meant as an opportunity for government officials to mingle with journalists.

A White House aide confirmed to the Daily News that neither President Trump nor any “members of his administration” will attend the Saturday dinner in Washington, which is held to dole out scholarships, “salute” the First Amendment and honor awardwinning journalism, according to the association’s website.

Trump, whose publicly professed hate for journalists is unmatched by his predecessors, announced this month he was ditching the “boring” dinner in favor of holding a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis.

As his administration alerted officials Tuesday morning to also skip the shindig, Trump fired off a familiar press-bashing rant over Twitter.

“The Radical Left Democrats, together with their leaders in the Fake News Media, have gone totally insane!” Trump declared as part of a string of tweets slamming The New York Times and other outlets as “truly the Enemy of the People!”

This is the third year in a row Trump will skip the press dinner, which has traditionally been attended by sitting presidents and vice presidents of both parties. This will mark the first year administration officials will also boycott the event.

Oliver Knox, the president of the Correspondents’ Association, responded to news of the boycott with a statement praising reporters who cover Trump’s administration.

“We’re looking forward to an enjoyable evening of celebrating the First Amendment and great journalists past, present and future,” Knox said.

Trump’s social media salvo came shortly before he was set for a closed-door, grip-andgrin session with the winners of the annual White House photographers awards.

Most of the winners work for media organizations that Trump regularly derides.