White House Correspondents’ Weekend: In Trump 2.0, The Parties Continue, But The Dinner Will Be Very Different

Media companies, talent agencies and startups are planning cocktail receptions and parties surrounding this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, but what will be strikingly different is the main event itself.

There will be no president, with Donald Trump, as he did in his first term, skipping it. There will be no comedian, as the WHCA dropped plans to feature a comedian, Amber Ruffin. And the typical Hollywood turnout so far looks to be scant.

Instead, the dinner at the Washington Hilton looks to reflect the moment — which is to say a state of anxiety for journalism in general, with the Trump administration not just bucking tradition but doing its utmost to undermine traditional media.

The WHCA’s president, Eugene Daniels, said earlier this month that he was planning a “re-envisioning” of the dinner at what he called a “consequential moment for journalism.” Daniels, formerly of Politico and now with MSNBC, has not yet announced any additional programming or speakers.

The event comes as the Trump administration has taken control of what had been a longtime role of the independently run non-profit WHCA: Deciding who gets into the press pool. The White House also has been making plans to take over another function, determining who sits where in the briefing room. The president’s move to freeze out the Associated Press — because the wire service’s style guidance did not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America — was ruled a violation of the First Amendment by a Trump-appointed federal judge.

There’s also the upheaval happening within news organizations, including the news this week that 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens is exiting because of interference by CBS’ corporate parent, Paramount Global. The company, seeking Trump administration’s approval for its merger with Skydance, has been in talks to settle the president’s $20 billion lawsuit over the way that the newsmagazine edited an interview with Kamala Harris. Many legal observers see the lawsuit as frivolous, and more of a way to assert leverage over a major media company.

“Well, the good times are over, at least for the time being,” said Frank Sesno, professor at the George Washington School of Media and Public Affairs and former Washington bureau chief for CNN. “What used to be an adversarial, jovial evening that recognized the unique roles [of the press and the presidency] and the tension and all of that, and also the kind of shared mission, it’s gone.”

He added that, “What is in its place is a low-key affair, a remnant of another time. The key question is whether it is a remnant or an artifact.”

There’s also the prospect that a number in the press corps will have to skip the dinner, as Trump plans to travel to Rome this weekend to attend the funeral of Pope Francis. “I hope I get assigned to it, because I’d rather go to a funeral than that dinner,” remarked one White House correspondent.

That said, the number of parties surrounding the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner won’t seem much different from previous years. CAA and UTA are returning with pre-dinner receptions, events that spotlight their news clients.

Networks also still see the promotional value in hosting key events, as NBCUniversal is once again planning an after party at the French ambassadors’ residence, while outlets are planning Hilton pre-receptions. And there will again be a Saturday brunch hosted by Tammy Haddad, which has become part of the weekend tradition.

There also will be some Hollywood celebrities, as the Creative Coalition is again planning a Friday evening gathering tied to the arts, with Jason Isaacs, Marg Helgenberger, Tim Daly and Amy Brenneman among those on the bill. Jon Lovett of Crooked Media’s Love It Or Leave It is doing a live show on Thursday, and Oliver Darcy’s startup Status is hosting a kickoff event that night.

The dinner itself will get coverage on C-SPAN, but it’s unclear whether cable news channels will switch to the Washington Hilton.

To some, the lack of celebrity star power is not necessarily a bad thing. Julie Mason, a former White House correspondent who hosts a daily SiriusXM show, said that the decision to drop Ruffin was the “right move.”

“With everything going on, the last thing the press needs is to host a comic ripping broadsides at the president while we sit there,” Mason wrote via email. “Journalists are not the resistance, nor the opposition party — despite the fervent wishes of about half the country that we become activists and fight. It’s not our job, and losing the comedian, talented and funny though she is, refocuses the dinner on the First Amendment and scholarships. Which is the whole point every year, but always gets overshadowed by the president and celebrities and all of this other stuff.”

This also won’t be the first dinner without the president or a comic. Following the controversy over Michelle Wolf’s biting jokes in 2018, the WHCA enlisted biographer Ron Chernow to give the keynote the next year.

Sesno, who will provide analysis on C-SPAN along with former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, also said that there is an opportunity for the WHCA, whose dinner dates back to 1921.

“There is something very important about the dinner — what it could and should be,” he said. “Our jobs are different, and on the competing ends of the democratic spectrum, but we are engaged in this together, after all.”

He said that the evening could reflect “what it is that journalism should be all about in this town, what should be the relationship to those in power,” and how that relates to the public.

Without the president, a comedian or a heavy celebrity quotient, though, the TV audience may be diminished to view the message.

Sesno, though, says that despite the changes, there is an even greater rationale for the WHCA, at a time when much of the public doesn’t understand how journalists do their work and how they hold power to account.

“It actually may be more important than ever now,” Sesno said. “It stood for certain standards and has had a certain responsibility. The White House has tried to turn it into a relic…but it is important that this association, largely marginalized by the White House, can assert itself in journalism and in the eyes of the public.”

Here’s a list of events this weekend:

Thursday: Lovett Or Leave It. Crooked Media’s Jon Lovett hosts a show from the Lincoln Theater, with guests Jen Psaki, Eugene Daniels and Ro Khanna. 8 p.m. ET.

Status WHCD Kickoff Party. Status newsletter holds a cocktail reception at the Wharf. 8:30 p.m. ET.

Washington Women In Journalism Awards. The Wall Street Journal’s Vivian Salama, CBS News’ Margaret Brennan, USA Today’s Francesca Chambers, and The New York Times Elisabeth Bumiller are honored by Washingtonian magazine.

Friday: Axios Communicators. Axios hosts conversations with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and former Press Secretary Jay Carney, now the Airbnb global head of communications. 10 a.m. ET, and live streamed.

Crooked Media Presents Drinks. The Pod Save America team hosts an early evening reception. 5:30 p.m. ET.

MPA Reception. The Motion Picture Association hosts a reception at its headquarters. 5:30 p.m. ET.

Creative Coalition Right To Bear Arts Gala. Tim Daly, Michael Chiklis and Gina Belafonte will perform the TCC Jam Band at the annual event at the Madison Hotel highlighting the importance of the arts. 7 p.m. ET.

British Ambassador’s Reception. Lord Peter Mandelson hosts a reception in partnership with Brunswick Group of Daily Mail. 7 p.m. ET.

New Correspondents Reception and Dinner. Adam Faze and Jess Hoy host a Watergate Hotel reception celebrating the “rising voices shaping the future of media.”

CAA and Conde Nast Kickoff Party. The agency and publisher host an event at City Tavern. 6:30 p.m. ET.

UTA Celebration of America’s Journalists. The agency hosts its annual later-in-the-evening event at Osteria Mozza DC. 9 p.m.

Saturday: Garden Brunch. Tammy Haddad, Kevin Sheekey, Mark and Sally Ein, David Urban, Teresa Carlson and Franco Nuschese host the annual Georgetown event. 11 a.m. ET.

WHCA Dinner. The event raises money for journalism scholarships and includes the annual award presentation. Media outlets including ABC News and CBS News host pre-receptions.

NBCUniversal After Party. The network hosts a post-dinner party at the residence of Laurent Bili, French ambassador to the United States. 11:30 p.m.

Sunday: CNN Reception. The network caps the weekend off with a reception event.