Donald Trump is skipping the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

For the second year in a row, President Trump will skip the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Margaret Talev, White House Correspondents Association president, said in a statement Friday that Trump is sitting out the event but “actively encourag[ing] members of the executive branch to attend and join us as we celebrate the First Amendment.” That’s a change from last year when the administration boycotted the dinner.

“There is something a little bit different about their posture, the administration’s posture this year,” Talev said Friday. She added that it’s a “good thing” the White House is softening its stance on the WHCD, though it’s not really clear why. Trump certainly hasn’t toned down his criticism of the “fake news,” which remains a near-daily target of his tweets.

Just today he criticized the media for reporting on the corruption of EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. In a radio interview that aired Friday morning Trump said he’s skipping the event because the media is “so bad and so fake.” Allowing his underlings to attend the WHCD hardly registers as a step in the right direction.

While Trump won’t be on hand for the event Saturday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will. And hopefully she bring along a few jokes from her dad.