After Five-Year Boycott, Trump Says He’ll Go To This Year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was accepting an invitation to appear at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, adding that his appearance would certainly make the annual event the “GREATEST, HOTTEST” one to date.

Trump made the announcement via his Truth Social platform, saying that it was nice to finally see members of the usually-combative press acknowledge him as “truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T.”

“The White House Correspondents Association has asked me, very nicely, to be the Honoree at this year’s Dinner, a long and storied tradition since it began in 1924, under then President Calvin Coolidge,” Trump began, saying that he’d accepted in part because he wanted to be there because 2026 will be the year the United States celebrates its 250th birthday as a nation.

“It will be my Honor to accept their invitation, and work to make it the GREATEST, HOTTEST, and MOST SPECTACULAR DINNER, OF ANY KIND, EVER!” he continued.

Trump went on to explain that he only skipped the event in years past because he had been so unfairly treated by most in the press.

“Because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me, FAKE NEWS ALL, right from the beginning of my First Term, I boycotted the event, and never went as Honoree,” he said, adding, “However, I look forward to being with everyone this year. Hopefully, it will be something very Special. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Trump boycotted the event for the entirety of his first term as president — and the first year of his second term — largely because of his often contentious relationship with most of the legacy press.

CBS News senior White House correspondent and president of the White House Correspondents Association Weijia Jiang said that she’s glad Trump has agreed to attend the dinner.

“For more than 100 years, the journalists of the White House Correspondents’ Association have enjoyed an evening with the president,” she said. “We’re happy the president has accepted our invitation and look forward to hosting him.”