As President Donald Trump and those in his administration carry out their war on the press, the media and political elites in Washington, D.C., might be finally thumbing their noses at the commander in chief.
At this weekend’s annual Gridiron Club dinner, which dates back to the 1880s, attendees took a swipe at Trump by breaking a 140-year tradition of toasting the sitting president. According to Puck News, dinner guests instead raised a glass to the First Amendment, which Trump has repeatedly attacked during his time in office.
Additionally, the Trump administration did not have a speaker at the dinner. While past dinners have featured past and present White House advisers, this one only included one of Trump’s Cabinet members: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner. Judy Woodruff, the president of the Gridiron Club, told The New York Times that both Trump and Vice President JD Vance declined invitations to the event.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner
“I was told the secretary of state would not be available,” she added.
These absences mark another break from tradition. Typically, the president or vice president closes the event with a speech; Trump, however, has not attended the dinner since 2018.
“Nobody went because we were either busy working or just don’t care to be recognized by that crowd,” one White House official told Politico.
A lot has changed since Trump first occupied the White House, though. During his remarks in 2018, Trump praised some journalists, calling them “incredible, brilliant, powerful, smart, and fair people.” Now, outlets who dare to challenge the president are labeled as being “corrupt.”
The fact that most administration officials chose not to attend the Gridiron Club dinner, coupled with Washington D.C. insiders breaking the unspoken tradition of toasting the president, suggests that Trump’s relationship with the Beltway media is at a point of no return.
This makes ample sense. After reclaiming the White House in January, Trump banned the Associated Press from the Oval Office and Air Force One because the outlet refused to comply with Trump’s ridiculous request to refer to the “Gulf of Mexico” as the “Gulf of America.” Meanwhile, Trump’s FCC chairman has launched inquiries into three broadcast news outlets after a conservative group alleged they were biased against the president.
On Friday, Trump also suggested in a speech that media outlets who don’t cover him positively (i.e., that tell the truth) should be deemed illegal. He also dismantled the U.S.-funded broadcast entity, Voice of America, accusing it of being too “radical.”
While Trump has made a point of punishing newsrooms that he believes are too critical of him, his administration has leaned on conservative outlets that generally aren’t disparaging of the president. In January, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced plans to change the briefing room, including allowing bloggers and podcasters into the space.
Of course, we’ve seen plenty of places bend to Trump since January, such as ABC News submitting to Trump over his defamation lawsuit against the network, but it seems like now, media outlets are finally reaching a breaking point.
Indeed, reports from the dinner indicated that attendees were well aware of the president’s recent attacks on the press. Politico reported that Woodruff, in a not-so-subtle dig at the president, showed videos of past presidents attending the event, including Trump. According to the Times, this year’s dinner also featured a skit where two attendees portrayed DOGE bro Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
“I’ll turn the GOP into the AFD [the far-right German party]. What can they do to stop me, Mon frere?” quipped the journalist playing Musk.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore
The jokes didn’t stop there. One of the evening’s speakers, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland, poked fun at Trump’s friendly relationship with Russia.
“If I actually wanted to be president, I wouldn’t do any of this,” Moore said. “Instead, I would take my case directly to the people who are in charge of our democracy, the Kremlin.”
This drew some negative attention from the few attendees still in the president’s orbit. In response to a dig regarding Vance, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, a Trump appointee who was also at the event, walked out in protest, according to the Times.
This weekend’s event comes ahead of this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, scheduled for April 26. In another break from tradition, Trump did not attend the event throughout his first term, and Leavitt announced on Friday that she would also not be attending this year’s affair.
As Trump continues to undermine the First Amendment and wreak havoc on the economy, he’s somehow found time to praise outlets that have shifted toward friendlier coverage of him—such as Bezos’ Washington Post.
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