White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE encouraged his staff to attend this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner despite forgoing the event himself.

"The president encouraged his staff and all of us to attend and so we did, and we felt like it was important for us to come out and be here," Sanders told CNN Saturday evening on the red carpet event preceding the dinner.

Trump is skipping the annual bash for the second year in a row, instead opting to hold a campaign-style rally in Michigan.

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Last year, he appeared at a rally in Pennsylvania instead of attending the correspondents' dinner.

Sanders's claim that Trump encouraged his own staff to attend the gala comes days after Trump explained in a campaign fundraising email why he had decided not to go to the dinner.

"My staff asked, ‘Mr. President, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner is coming up. Will you go?’ " Trump said in a fundraising email from his campaign. "I said, ‘Why would I want to be stuck in a room with a bunch of fake news liberals who hate me?’ "

Trump has repeatedly derided members of the media since the 2016 presidential campaign, declaring outlets that cover his administration critically to be "fake news."