President Donald Trump is using his planned absence from the White House Correspondents Association dinner Saturday, April 28, to try and raise money for his next election.

The President didn't show up for last year's dinner, either, where the press and the President customarily get together to trade barbs and toasts, a temporary glove-dropping that had become a regular stop for Presidents of both parties before the current one.

In an e-mail to supporters Tuesday, the President said that when his staff asked if he would go to the dinner this year, his response was: “Why would I want to be stuck in a room with a bunch of fake news liberals who hate me?”

For the record, news outlets considered conservative are also in attendance.

The President said that instead of going to the dinner, he would be holding a rally in Michigan "to spend the evening with my favorite deplorables who love our movement and love America!"

The President has consistently tried to marginalize his critics, including the news media, by portraying them as the enemy or the swamp or those standing between his supporters and a "great again" America.

He said for the price of a donation the e-mail recipient would have a chance to have a picture taken with the President "so you can always remember the night I chose YOU over the fake news."

The President will be missing entertainment by cable and OTT comedian Michelle Wolf (Netflix, Comedy Central, HBO), who will be roasting the President in absentia.