Donald Trump made a big entrance, bypassing the red carpet, as he was set to be the honored guest at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising a speech to offend the press.
Trump and wife Melania appeared on stage after leaving the White House Saturday night, as the rest of the star-studded attendees walked the red carpet and took their seats with JD Vance and his wife Usha, as well as Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The President has had a rocky relationship with the annual event, held by the White House Correspondents' Association, but was pleased to be named an honoree for this year's gathering.
Kennedy, tuxedo-clad with actress wife Cheryl Hines on his arm in a strapless, black, fitted gown, previewed the President's remarks on the red carpet before Trump arrived. 'I'm anticipating that the president will put on a big performance and probably offend some people in the press,' he said.
The Health Secretary noted that the President is famous for his sense of humor and ability to make headlines with his words. 'The president is very funny and historically there's been a lot of comedy at this event and I hope there are good feelings that come from it and people can take a joke. The president has been more open toward the press than any other administration in history,' he said.
Kennedy continued to praise Trump for his commitments to transparency while in office. 'He has set every record for transparency. He's not scared of the press, and he's not scared to talk about his opinion, even though you guys just criticize him all the time.'
As Trump arrived, several protests related to the Iran War and Israel's war against Hamas took place outside the Washington Hilton.
This will be Trump's first appearance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner since 2015. Trump will be watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration.
Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists. The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.
The White House correspondents will also hand out awards for exemplary reporting. That includes some stories that displeased Trump, such as one from the Journal about a birthday message Trump once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story led to a presidential lawsuit.
Trump announced his attendance in a Truth Social post in early March. '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,' Trump posted on his social media site on Monday evening.
He noted that the latest installment comes amid celebrations marking America's 250th birthday, adding that 'it will be my Honor to accept their invitation.'
Trump was invited annually, but never attended the dinner during his first term and also skipped last year's gathering.
'For more than 100 years, the journalists of the White House Correspondents' Association have enjoyed an evening with the president,' the association's president, Weijia Jiang, said in a statement. 'We're happy the president has accepted our invitation and look forward to hosting him.'
The event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but President Joe Biden attended each of the dinners during his term's final three years. Every president since Coolidge had attended except Trump — until now.
In his post Trump wrote that, 'Because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me' he had 'boycotted the event, and never went.' 'However, I look forward to being with everyone this year. Hopefully, it will be something very Special.'
The correspondents' dinner debuted in 1921. Three years later, Coolidge became the first president to attend. While all presidents but Trump went, not all did every year of their terms. Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon opted not to, and Ronald Reagan — then recovering from an assassination attempt — missed the 1981 installment, but called in from Camp David.
FBI Director Kash Patel and his girlfriend Alexis Wilkins will be The Daily Mail's guests at the White House Correspondents' Dinner this evening.
