Featured Image Credit: Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Jeffrey Epstein, US News
William Morgan
Topics: Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Jeffrey Epstein, US News
President Trump is ending an 11-year boycott of the prestigious White House Correspondents' Dinner this weekend, but there's a strong chance that he'll wish he'd stayed at home.
It is perhaps unsurprising that the president has avoided the glitzy dinner throughout his time in the White House. Trump's attendance at the event in 2011 has long been cited as a 'catalyst' for his successful run for president four years later.
At that Correspondents' Dinner, Trump was brutally roasted by President Obama and comedian Seth Meyers over his support for the erroneous 'birther' movement, which demanded that America's first Black leader release his birth certificate to prove that he was born on American soil.
After Obama lambasted Trump by asking whether he also believed the moon landings were faked and that Tupac is still alive, the billionaire property investor was reportedly livid. And at tonight's event, there's a chance he will be infuriated once again.
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That's because of a major $10,000 prize being handed out at this year's event for the scribes and scribblers that haunt the corridors of power in the nation's capital.
This prize, called the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability, is funded by a big donation from billionaire Amazon-founder Jeff Bezos which will allow the cash sum to be awarded at every future dinner.
And in its inaugural year, this prize will be handed to Bezos' own newspaper, The Washington Post, for its investigation into President Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein - while the Commander-in-Chief is sat watching on.
The prize was announced the same day that Trump's $10 billion lawsuit against the paper, which published a birthday card to the pedophile that ends with Trump allegedly saying 'May every day be another wonderful secret,' was dismissed by a federal judge.
Trump's revelation that he would be breaking with his 11-year boycott, to the surprise of many, came in a Truth Social post claiming that the Washington press corps 'now admit that I am truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T.'
But 15 years after his roasting at the hands of Obama, Trump is not planning on being humiliated again this time.
That's because this time around there will be no comedian tearing into him, as is standard practice at the dinner for journalists, which is often called 'nerd prom' by beltway insiders.
Instead, this year will feature mentalist Oz Pearlman, rather than the usual roast from a comedian. Pearlman has said he will try to 'get inside' Trump's head at the dinner, which may be an easier task than guessing Joe Rogan's social security number.
Even if Trump gets his way and receives a number of softball gags, rather than the usual uncomfortable level of ribbing from the press, this Correspondents' Dinner is likely to be much frostier and less-attended than previous years.
One veteran journalist told the Guardian that newsrooms have wrestled with going to the event this year. They said: “I understand it’s customary to invite the president, but we’ve never had a president like this before. It’s not about party affiliation. It’s not even about policy.
"It’s about the war he and his administration have conducted on the press and the first amendment and our ability to do our job.”