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Trump says he will skip White House Correspondents' dinner

US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks to reporters on board Airforce One as he travels back to Washington, DC on April 5, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

President Donald Trump says he will again skip the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner this year, amid his sustained attacks on US media.

"It's unlikely I will do the White House Correspondents dinner this year," Trump said in an interview Friday with "Bernie & Sid in the Morning" on 77 WABC.

Trump also told the hosts that the press are "so bad and so fake," describing them as "novelists" with the way they make up sources.

WHCA President Margaret Talev issued a statement, saying, "The White House has informed us that the president does not plan to participate in this year's dinner.”

Meanwhile, other members of Trump’s administration will attend the dinner to be held in Washington on April 28.

"In keeping with tradition, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders also will represent the administration at the head table,” Talev said, adding, the event “celebrates award-winning reporting, scholarship winners and the vital role of the First Amendment and the free press in American democracy."

Last year, Trump skipped his first WHCA dinner as president and instead attended a rally of supporters, irking many in the press.

“I feel bad, because a lot of White House reporters are going to have to go and cover that and not come to our own dinner,” former WHCA member Julie Mason told The Hill last year.

Trump frequently accuses major media organizations like CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post of bias, but strongly favors news outlets that provide glowing coverage such as Fox News, the Daily Caller, Newsmax and Sinclair, a group of almost 200 local TV stations.

Trump attended the dinner in 2011, where he was repeatedly mocked and teased by then-President Barack Obama.


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