Following the outrage Michelle Wolf caused last year, this year's event isn't expected to grab headlines with historian Ron Chernow as the keynote speaker and the president not in attendance for the third straight year. The annual dinner had evolved from something exclusively broadcast on C-SPAN to a big TV event covered live on the cable news networks, thanks to the intersections of White House officials, celebrities and journalists. It had become an "embarrassment," says Margaret Sullivan. But thanks to Trump, the annual dinner is now irrelevant -- as it should be. "Trump is certainly no friend of the free press, but in his role as dinner-damper, he’s done journalists a huge favor," says Sullivan.
TOPICS: White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump Presidency