The Slatest

Trump to Hold Rally on Same Night As White House Correspondents’ Dinner

President Donald Trump holds a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the East Room of the White House April 12, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump revealed on Saturday what he will be doing next week instead of attending the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington: Hosting his own rally. “Next Saturday night I will be holding a BIG rally in Pennsylvania. Look forward to it,” the president wrote on Twitter. The rally will be in Harrisburg, Pa. on the date that will also mark the 100th-day of Trump’s presidency.

The announcement came a day after Trump dismissed the importance of the 100-day mark as a “ridiculous standard.”

As many quickly pointed out, Trump himself had often referred to the 100-day marker as an important point of his presidency. During the campaign he even released a “100-day action plan to Make America Great Again.”

A White House official criticized references to the rally taking place on the same day as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, saying it had more to do with marking the president’s 100 days in office. “The media is trying to make this about them when—respectively it has nothing to do with you guys,” the official told Politico. “It’s about focusing on the people.”

In February, Trump announced he would be eschewing tradition and skipping the annual Correspondents’ Dinner, which he had attended in past years as a guest.

Trump won’t be the only one fighting for the spotlight during the Correspondents’ Dinner. Full Frontal host Samantha Bee is holding an event called “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” at a hotel a couple of miles away from the annual event.