Round 2: Rally vs. WH Correspondents Dinner
6:15 p.m.: Last year, Mr. Trump hosted a freewheeling rally in Pennsylvania at the same time as the dinner. At the time, Mr. Trump expressed his satisfaction to be with “much better people” than the D.C. press corps.
“They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents Dinner without the president,” Mr. Trump said last year. “And I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington’s swamp, spending my evening with all of you and with a much, much larger crowd and much better people, right?”
But, despite his regular criticisms of the press, Mr. Trump hasn’t skipped out on all media festivities lately. In March, he spoke at the media-focused Gridiron Dinner in D.C.
“Nobody does self-deprecating humor better than I do. It’s not even close,” said Mr. Trump at that dinner. He also said, “I was very excited to receive this invitation and ruin your evening in person. That’s why I accepted.”
— Kathryn Watson
