Breaking a longstanding tradition, US President Donald Trump will not be attending the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a scholarship benefit for gifted students in college journalism programmes that usually sees the President and their administration light-heartedly “roasted” by comedians.

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“I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year,” Trump said on his twitter account. “Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!”

The event began in 1921 and has been attended by every sitting President at least once in their term (Barack Obama went every year during his tenure in the White House). The last President who skipped the dinner was Ronald Reagan in 1981, when he was recuperating from an assassination attempt, but he still delivered some remarks by telephone.

In other words, it’s pretty unusual for a President not to attend the event – but some celebrities and comedy fans have come up with a novel solution to the situation, suggesting that actor Alec Baldwin attend to deliver his now-regular Saturday Night Live impression of Trump instead.

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As of yet there’s no response from Baldwin to this idea, but we definitely wouldn’t rule it out. If the last year has taught us anything, it’s that ANYTHING is possible in the world of politics.

Authors

Huw FullertonCommissioning Editor

Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.

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