The White House Correspondents Dinner is an annual opportunity for the media to interact with the president in a much less heated landscape than the daily grind demands. For the second straight year, President Donald Trump will not be attending.

The White House announced the unsurprising decision on Friday morning (April 6). The news, however, came with a somewhat surprising caveat: The administration isn't boycotting the event in its entirety this time around. Instead, a representative is headed to the dinner on President Trump's behalf.

This year's Correspondents Dinner

Rather than President Trump, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be attending in his stead. There will also be some sort of active encouragement for other members of the administration to attend, although that's hard to fathom. Still, this is a turn for the White House.

This year's event is three weeks away, scheduled for April 28. The White House Correspondents Dinner will honor CNN, a frequent recipient of President Trump's Twitter diatribes; no wonder he doesn't have much interest in attending. NBC News' Lester Holt will also be honored for an interview he did with President Trump earlier in the year. Each year, a comedian leads the roasting of the president.

This year, that comedian will be Michelle Wolf, best known for her work on "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah." Interestingly, her stand-up doesn't utilize the news all that much. That won't be the case on April 28.

President Trump's problem with the dinner

There's no real official reason behind President Trump's dismissal of the event.

There are many theories, though. The most prevalent one dates back to the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner. At that event, Seth Meyers was among the comedians who made fun of Trump, back when he was nothing more than a famous private citizen. Many believe the ridicule from that night directly led to President Trump's run for the Oval Office.

Last year, he made a show of missing the event. On the very same night, he hosted a campaign-style rally in Pennsylvania. Without President Trump, this year's event will receive the same minimal attention as the last one. Last year, he became the first sitting president to sit out since 1981, when Ronald Reagan was recovering from an assassination attempt. The only assassination President Trump worries about at the White House Correspondents Dinner is that of his character.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED