Why Trump's absence at the White House Correspondents' dinner is not surprising

The US president said he did not want to attend this annual media event. And for good reason, he spends his time typing on journalists and felt humiliated in recent editions.

In the absence of a major political opponent -  the Democrats being weakened by their defeat in the 2016 elections - Donald Trump turned to another  "opposition"  : the media. His crusade against those he called on Twitter  "the enemies of the American people"  has not declined fervor since he entered the White House on 20 January. On the contrary. His latest feat: the president announced, again on Twitter, that he would not go to the famous dinner of correspondents of the White House, April 29.A strongly symbolic choice.

"The Lethal media (the defective New York Times, NBCNews, ABC, CBS, CNN) are not my enemies, they are the enemies of the American people!" - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)  February 17, 2017

Three minutes of humiliation ...

Donald Trump has a heavy past with this annual event. Organized by the White House Correspondents' Association, the purpose of the event was to celebrate the freedom of the press and to award scholarships worth $ 100,000 (95,000 euros) to journalists. But for the last few years, dinner has turned into a social event where journalists rub shoulders with celebrities and politicians on whom they write. The palm comes back to the one who will make the funniest speech. Under the era of Obama, these dinners were a grandstand for the second-degree humor of the then President. Donald Trump paid the price several times. Some even see, in the 2011 dinner, the real trigger for the run for the billionaire.

Barack Obama then spent part of his speech attacking Trump. A vengeance against the billionaire who had regularly questioned the nationality of the president-in-office, and thus his legitimacy to govern the country. After being forced to publish his birth certificate, Obama did not hesitate to belittle the businessman, under the laughter of the room. Three minutes of humiliation that Trump would never have forgotten.

"No one is as proud as this birth certificate story stops as Le Donald, had launched the former president. It is because he will finally be able to reconcile himself on the real problems that count as: did we simulate the landing on the Moon? What really happened to Roswell? Where are Biggie and Tupac really? "  The comedian Seth Meyers, scriptwriter forSaturday Night Live, also did not miss the opportunity to make fun of the businessman :  " Donald Trump Said he intended to run for the presidential election as a Republican. I thought he wanted to introduce himself as a big joke . [...] He recently said he had good relationships with blacks. Unless Blacks is the name of a White family, I think he's wrong. "The stoic billionaire had not appreciated.

The misadventures of Trump with the dinner of correspondents do not stop there. In 2013, the billionaire was booed on his arrival. Three years later, for his last dinner as president, Obama did not fail to let go, again, a few pikes against Trump, then candidate to the Republican nomination for the presidential. Surprising that the billionaire is not present, Barack Obama said, to the delight of the room: "What is it doing? Is he at home, eating a Steak Trump, tweeting insults to Angela Merkel? "

... And media "liars"

For the 2017 dinner, the absence of Donald Trump is rather a relief for everyone. Jeff Mason, the president of the association that organizes the event, did not take any notice of it. "We are taking note of Donald Trump's announcement on Twitter ," he said in a statement on Saturday. [This] dinner was and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment [which guarantees freedom of the press, ed] and the important role played by independent media in a healthy Republic. "

This comment could be seen as a provocation when many voices were heard this weekend to denounce the behavior of the White House towards certain journalists. On Friday, Sean Spicer, spokesman for the Trump administration, canceled his daily press conference to replace it with a camera-less meeting with a handful of journalists. CNN , Politico , the New York Times , the Los Angeles Times and Buzzfeed were shut the doors of the White House. The AP agency and Time magazine refused to go there in solidarity.

"Never was such a thing arrived at the White House in our long coverage of multiple administrations of both parties ... The free media access to open government is obviously crucial to the national interest." A Denounced in a statement Dean Baquet, editor of the New York Times.

Critics have also come from the Republican camp. Last week, Senator John McCain said,  "If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you must have a free, sometimes critical press. Without that, I fear that we would lose a lot of our individual freedoms. This is how the dictators begin. " 

On Friday, the President devoted a part of his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), to misdirect the media and their "fake news" . "They should not be allowed to use sources without citing them. The names of their sources must be  published, "Trump protested, challenging one of the founding principles of journalism, the right to keep its sources anonymous.

"LGBT media do not knowingly tell the truth. A great danger for our country. The failing New York Times has become a joke. Just like CNN. Sad! "- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)  February 25, 2017

Donald Trump will be the third president not to attend the dinner of correspondents since its inception in 1921. Jimmy Carter apologized in 1978, saying he was  "exhausted" . In 1981, Ronald Reagan had not come in person but made a few remarks by telephone: he was then at Camp David in remission after escaping from an assassination attempt when he was shot in the torso .