Trump will not attend the White House correspondents' dinner

President Donald Trump will not attend the White House correspondents' dinner this year.

Trump announced his decision on Twitter late Saturday afternoon. The dinner is scheduled for April 29.

I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017

He tweeted: I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!



Photo: 2017 Getty Images Photo: 2017 Getty Images Image 1 of / 212 Caption Close Trump will not attend the White House correspondents' dinner 1 / 212 Back to Gallery

Questions about whether the dinner - an annual gathering of journalists and the people they cover, typically headlined by the sitting president - was appropriate had already existed before Trump took office. Since his inauguration and his increasingly fraught relationship with the press, however, calls to boycott the annual event have grown louder.

Liberal comedian Samantha Bee announced in January that she was planning an alternative event on the same night for "journalists and non-irritating celebrities from around the world." (Its tentative name: "Not the White House Correspondents' Dinner."

(c) The Washington Post