Donald Trump's expected attendance at Saturday's annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington for his first time as president will put his administration's often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.
Trump will be watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.
The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.
Trump’s planned appearance is rekindling a longer running debate about the dinner and events like it — in particular, whether it is poor form for journalists to be seen socializing with the people they cover. The New York Times, for example, stopped attending the dinner more than a decade ago for that reason.
“What was once (a fairly long time ago) a well-intended night of fundraising and camaraderie among professional adversaries is now simply a bad look,” wrote Kelly McBride, ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank.
Between berating individual reporters, fighting organizations like the Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in court and restricting press access to the Pentagon, the administration’s animus toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term.
On the eve of the dinner, nearly 500 retired journalists signed a petition calling on the association "to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.”
“The White House Correspondents’ dinner reinforces the importance of the First Amendment in our democracy," said the WHCA president, Weijia Jiang, a CBS News reporter. "As we mark America’s 250th birthday, our choice to gather as journalists, newsmakers and the president in the same room is a reminder of what a free press means to this country and why it must endure. Not for the media or the president, but for the people who depend on it.”
Many reporters who attend, however, consider it a valuable opportunity get story ideas and establish personal connections with those in government, one that may pay dividends with returned telephone calls in the future.
Journalists often invite sources as guests at the dinner. It will be noticed Saturday whether administration officials who have also expressed hostility to the press will attend, and with whom they will be sitting.
The AP has invited Taylor Budowich, a former White House deputy chief of staff who left last fall for the private sector. The invitation is notable because Budowich, in his role crafting White House communications policy, was a named defendant last year when the AP sued the administration after it reduced its access to the president because the news outlet did not follow Trump's lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.
“We maintain professional relationships with people across the political spectrum because we are nonpartisan by design — focused on reporting the facts in the public's interest,” AP spokesman Patrick Maks said.
The White House correspondents will also hand out awards for exemplary reporting. That includes some stories that displeased Trump, such as one from the Journal about a birthday message Trump once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story led to a presidential lawsuit.
David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach Fla., Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — On Newport's south side, historic and opulent mansions sit on an avenue with mature trees that help cool the neighborhoods, clean the air and foster wildlife. On the city's poorer North End, where some streets are dotted with subsidized housing, big trees are a lot fewer and far between.
“People in this neighborhood aren’t receiving the benefits of trees,” said Natasha Harrison, executive director of the Newport Tree Conservancy. “They need more.”
The conservancy has planted hundreds of native trees to create a healthier forest in a 30-acre city-owned park, Miantonomi Memorial Park. Fifteen volunteers met staff from the conservancy at the park in the northern part of the city on Wednesday for Earth Day.
Many native trees in the park’s forest have been crowded out by invasive plants, killed by disease or eaten by deer, rabbits and squirrels. This year, for the first time, the conservancy wanted to dig up native seedlings to nurture the trees in their nursery and replant them in the forest to better their chances of survival.
The conservancy's goal is to grow the tree canopy in the area and raise its low “tree equity score.” The score is a measure of whether there are enough trees in a neighborhood for people to experience the health, economic and climate benefits trees provide.
The conservancy's work was supposed to be aided by federal funding the U.S. Forest Service awarded to the Arbor Day Foundation, a global nonprofit dedicated to tree planting and conservation, Harrison said. As President Donald Trump's administration sought to end environmental justice initiatives, the Forest Service terminated a $75 million grant last year to the foundation, which was working to plant trees in neighborhoods that might not otherwise be able to afford them.
Harrison said the conservancy expected to receive $150,000 from the foundation. The conservancy's donors made up the difference after the cancellation, and volunteers help the nonprofit to achieve its mission.
“It was stressful, but I didn't want to let it derail us,” Harrison said.
The conservancy has been partnering with the city to plant trees throughout Newport for almost 40 years and improve the tree canopy.
At Miantonomi Park, Joe Verstandig, the conservancy's living collections manager, led the group into the forest. He pointed out the invasive species they are working against, like the groves of Aralia spinosa, commonly called devil’s walking stick, Norway maples and Japanese knotweed. He showed them how to methodically dig up the plants they wanted to save, such as the arrowwood that is common throughout Rhode Island, elderberry and American holly.
The group included friends Allie Bujakowski and Mara Swist. Bujakowski lives a mile from the park and walks her dog there. Swist lives nearby in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. They both said they wanted to get their hands dirty for Earth Day and help the conservancy, which planted a tree in Bujakowski's front yard.
“They are getting trees in spaces in the community where we really need them,” said Bujakowski, who wore a Newport mansions hat. “It makes a big difference visually. I see the trees they planted two years ago and they're bringing the birds back.”
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Volunteers walk into the woods at Miantonomi Park to collect native tree seedlings Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A magnolia tree blooms Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Trees surround homes Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Joe Verstandig, living collections manager at the Newport Tree Conservancy, repots a native tree seedling Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Joe Verstandig, right, and Ian Delmonico, left, mix soil for native tree seedlings at a nursery Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Joe Verstandig, living collections manager at the Newport Tree Conservancy, removes excess soil from a native tree seedling Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
People walk near a mansion and a red maple tree Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A mobile home park is visible Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Allie Bujakoski collects a native tree seedling as part of a collection effort Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
A planted tree grows in Miantonomi Park Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Sophie Colantuono, a program director at the Newport Tree Conservancy, places soil around tree seedlings as part of a collection effort Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Ian Delmonico, left, inspects newly collected native tree seedlings Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Volunteers dig up native tree seedlings as part of a collection effort Wednesday, April 22, 2026, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
