Washington, DC – April 29, 2024 

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has been an annual event hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) since 1921. The one-hundred-year-old organization was founded in 1914 by the journalists who covered the White House and the President. Until 1962, the dinner was open only to men, even though WHCA’s membership included women.

The annual event has become an opportunity for the sitting President to poke fun at the journalists who cover the White House and the President.

According to Barbara Maranzani “The first cancellation occurred in 1930, when former president and recently retired Chief Justice William Howard Taft died on the morning of the WHCA dinner, followed hours later by the unexpected death of another Supreme Court justice, Edward Terry Sanford. The dinner was canceled again in 1942 after America’s entry into World War II. When it returned the following year, strict rationing was already in place and even President Franklin Roosevelt was asked to pay for his own ticket. The last time the event was canceled was in 1951—at the request of President Harry Truman—due to the “uncertainty of world events” during the Korean War.”

Sunday, April 20th President Joe Biden embraced the opportunity to practice his standup comedy routine. His speech had some serious points, but mostly he took light jabs at the journalists and the former President, Donald Trump. 

The 2024 dinner was attended by more than 2000 journalists, Hollywood stars, and well-known politicians. The dinner is traditionally held on the evening of the last Saturday in April at the Washington Hilton. The 2024 dinner was held on Sunday.

According to the WHCA website, President Donald Trump, was the only president who did not attend at least one WHCA dinner while in office, beginning with Calvin Coolidge in 1924. While not having been elected to the presidency, at the time, Donald Trump did attend the 2011 WHCA dinner as a guest while Barrack Obama was president. President Obama used approximately five minutes of his speech time to roast Mr. Trump.

The credentialing procedure, getting access to the president, and the physical state of the White House press briefing rooms are a few of the more prominent concerns that the WHCA handles.