Trump’s First WHCA Dinner as President Ends in Gunfire, Reviving a Fraught History

Annual dinner dates to the 1920s, with every president attending at least once

Obama once left Trump visibly uncomfortable with a biting routine

Trump attended the event as president for the first time this year

The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, thrown into chaos on April 25 after an armed intruder tried to enter the venue and gunfire erupted while President Donald Trump was in attendance, is one of Washington’s best-known traditions. The annual event has been held since 1921 to commemorate freedom of expression protected by the First Amendment.

The dinner also reaffirms the value of free speech and press freedom while supporting journalism scholarships. It is a rare gathering that draws not only the media, but also political figures, government officials and celebrities.

Starting with President Calvin Coolidge, the 30th US president, in 1924, every US president through Trump — the 45th and 47th — has attended the event at least once. It has long been regarded as a rite of passage in a president’s relationship with the press.

The president’s speech is typically the evening’s highlight. Self-deprecating jokes and sharp satire have become a WHCA dinner tradition.

Trump, who attended the event as president for the first time on April 25, is likely to be remembered as having an unusual relationship with the dinner. The WHCA event has also given him some of his most uncomfortable public moments.

At the 2011 dinner, then-President Barack Obama mocked Trump, who had promoted claims questioning Obama’s birthplace. After again noting that Obama’s Hawaii birth record had been released, Obama joked that Trump could now focus on whether the moon landing was faked and what happened in Roswell. He also referred to speculation about a Trump presidential bid and displayed a doctored image of the White House labeled as a “Trump White House resort and condos.”

Images of Trump at the event, wearing a strained smile as he listened, were widely shared. Obama returned to the theme in 2015, taking another jab at Trump, who had repeatedly hinted at presidential runs before backing away, by saying, “Oh, you’re still here.”

Those memories of public embarrassment have long been viewed as one factor in Trump’s decision to run for president. Trump skipped the WHCA dinner throughout his first term. He also did not attend last year, the first year of his second term. Many saw his memories of Obama’s remarks, along with distrust of legacy media outlets he has often viewed as hostile, as reasons for those absences.

Trump’s decision to attend the WHCA dinner this year for the first time as president had heightened interest in what he might say. But the evening’s signature speech was scrapped after the shooting.

Trump wrote on social media that he plans to reschedule the correspondents’ dinner within 30 days. Still, it remains unclear whether the event’s organizer, the WHCA rather than the White House, can stage a gathering of 2,000 to 3,000 people again within a month.

Park Su-bin, Hankyung.com reporter, waterbean@hankyung.com