WHCA president opens dinner highlighting Trump’s absence and ‘extremely difficult’ year for the press

White House Correspondents' Association President Eugene Daniels kicked off the group's annual dinner Saturday night with pointed remarks about President Donald Trump’s absence, and a broader complaint about what he called an "extremely difficult" year for the press. 

"I know this has been an extremely difficult year for all of you. It's been difficult for this association," Daniels said.  

"We've been tested, attacked, but every single day our members get up, they run to the White House, plane, train, automobile with one mission, holding the powerful accountable." 

Daniels, who recently joined MSNBC full-time after his stint at Politico, made the comments within the first minutes of the dinner, noting to the crowd, "This dinner is going to feel a little different than usual. There's no president, there's no comedian." 

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White House Correspondents’ Association President Eugene Daniels, right, opened the annual dinner by criticizing Trump’s absence and highlighting a difficult year for the press. (Getty Images)

Saturday’s event marked another year without Trump, who opted to skip the dinner throughout his first term as well. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also declined to attend. President Joe Biden attended all three dinners held during his tenure; the 2021 dinner in his first year in office was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.

Traditionally, the event has featured a comedian poking fun at the media and official Washington, as well as the sitting president doing a stand-up routine. The event also traditionally raises money for scholarships and programs supporting the WHCA’s work. It often features a star-studded crowd from the media, politics, and Hollywood. 

A major break from tradition this year was the lack of a comedian roasting the sitting president. Daniels announced last month that comic Amber Ruffin’s scheduled performance had been canceled, calling it part of a "re-envisioning" of the dinner.  

In a memo to WHCA members, Daniels said he wanted to shift the night’s focus away from "the politics of division" and toward celebrating journalism and free press initiatives. 

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The decision to cancel Ruffin came one day after White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich criticized the WHCA’s selection, calling the liberal Ruffin a "2nd-rate comedian" on X, and noting her previous hostility toward the Trump administration.  

Ruffin responded on Seth Meyers' late-nght show with a sharp, satirical skit. Mocking the idea of political fairness for "both sides," she joked, "We have a free press so that we can be nice to Republicans at fancy dinners." Ruffin also commented that "when bad people do bad things, you have to treat them fairly and respectfully." 

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This year’s dinner comes amid heightened tensions between the press and the Trump White House. Some media outlets have accused the administration of sidelining traditional news organizations at official events.  

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Earlier this year, the Trump administration barred the Associated Press from some press pool events after they chose to disregard Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. A federal judge ruled that the White House’s actions violated the Constitution, though the administration has appealed the decision. It also removed the traditional wire service slot in the rotating press pool.