President Donald Trump's press pool remained in a van outside the hotel until Trump's motorcade departed the hotel several hours later. | AP Photo Press pool left in darkness as Trump dines at his hotel

On the night President Donald Trump announced he was bailing on the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, he later made an unscheduled trip along Pennsylvania Avenue to dine at the restaurant of his own hotel, leaving his press pooler outside in the darkness.

With the pool reporter sidelined, and the symbolism hard to miss, many journalists speculated on social media about what the president was up to. Even the press pooler turned to Twitter, where a reporter sitting in the dining room when the president's entourage arrived had posted a photo of the president's group.


Trump was pictured sitting with his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, a senior adviser; Florida Gov. Rick Scott; Nigel Farage, the leader of the United Kingdom’s Brexit movement; and others, according to a tweet by Benny Johnson, reporter for Independent Journal Review, who happened to be at the Trump International Hotel.

Trump had eaten lunch with Scott and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker earlier at the White House, according to pool reports.

The pool reporter remained in a van outside the hotel until Trump's motorcade departed the hotel several hours later and arrived at the White House, without the pooler catching a glimpse of the president.

At Trump hotel. Secret Service swarms the place. Trump walks in, sits down next to me w/ Gov. Rick Scott, Nigel Farage, Ivanka & Kuchner pic.twitter.com/5ZgTUixvwR — Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017