The White House Correspondents’ Association is reversing course and canceling its plans to have comedian Amber Ruffin headline this year’s annual fundraising dinner in Washington, DC.
Instead, the association says it will celebrate the First Amendment and the free press.
He said the association’s board voted unanimously to make the change, and did not immediately announce any new speakers.
The change is a tacit acknowledgment of the growing tensions between the association — which represents White House correspondents from dozens of news outlets — and President Donald Trump.
Trump skipped the annual dinner during his first four years in office and was expected to snub it again this April.
Meanwhile, conservative media outlets aligned with Trump have been planning their own alternative events around the April 26 dinner.
Scores of media companies buy tables at the annual dinner, and many hold their own receptions surrounding the event. »