Why the Washington press corps still dines with the man who calls them 'piggy'
Tonight, the leading lights of American journalism will don tuxedos and gowns to share expensive steak and fine wine with the very man who wants to destroy them. And you have to wonder why.
The rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner takes place this evening in Washington DC. The previous edition was abandoned after a man ran in with a homemade shotgun and tried to assassinate Donald Trump and his cabinet. Now, in a move that would be laughable if it weren't so telling, the entertainment for the evening is a magician. Because who else would you book for a party where the guest of honour is an overgrown toddler?
The event is supposedly a celebration of the First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press and free speech. But to secure the President's attendance, the format was radically changed. Out went the comedian host who would gently roast the President and his cabinet. In came a magician. One might think ourselves lucky it is taking place in a swanky hotel rather than a soft play centre.
Why does the press keep showing up?
The do-over will be held at the Waldorf Astoria, formerly the Trump Hotel in DC. It comes at a time when Trump's attacks on the media have reached unprecedented levels, even by his standards. The Justice Department is currently in court demanding phone records from New York Times journalists, their spouses, and in one case, their mother, in an attempt to smoke out who leaked sensitive information about a story.
And which story prompted such unheard of, antidemocratic, frankly un-American action? The stupid story about Trump's Qatari jet not having the security features needed to fly the President safely. A story so obvious that it barely needed telling. It is also quite funny that they chose this story to send subpoenas over, and not the leak of recordings from meetings held in the Situation Room. Presumably because they already know who leaked those.
The move will almost certainly be blocked by judges, but that is not the point. As with most of Trump's legal fights with the media, the process is the punishment. It is not about winning in court. It is about intimidating journalists and, more importantly, their sources.
A pattern of intimidation
This is just Trump's latest attack on the press. He frequently swerves questions he does not like by attacking the journalist or their employer as dishonest or corrupt, accusing them of lying, calling them 'piggy'. It is particularly dicey being a woman in the White House Press Corps, unless you are one of the paid propagandists from organisations like Lindell TV, whom Trump has invited into the press room to dilute the proper questions his team faces.
And it does not end with Trump. His public description of anyone trying to hold him to account as 'fake news' was understandably attractive to politicians around the world. It rapidly became the done thing to attack the media. Nigel Farage does it. Jeremy Corbyn did it. I spent a lot of time at CPAC GB last week and was personally described from the stage as the 'enemy' for accurately reporting what was going on there.
What could the press do instead?
So I return to my earlier question. If you are a journalist in Washington, why would you ever turn up to a dinner hosted by Donald Trump as a guest? The New York Times have the right idea. They have a longstanding policy of not attending as guests, but instead covering it as an event.
Of course, if nobody turned up to the dinner last year, nobody would have been there to report on the shots fired and the scramble to safety. But there is no reason a night of reporting on Trump has to come with a plate of chateaubriand. In a normal world, the reaction to Trump's behaviour would be empty tables and dozens of reporters standing around the walls.
Even better, the White House Correspondents Association could simply disinvite Trump. It has happened without the President before. There is absolutely no requirement for an organisation to invite a guy who calls its members 'piggy' and undermines them whenever possible over for dinner. It is like the National Association of Electric Cars inviting Jeremy Clarkson to speak at their annual conference.
Other groups have managed not to invite him to things, most notably the Nobel Committee. The worst that could happen if he were not invited is that he would get a bit upset and Gianni Infantino would have to invent a 'FIFA CHAMPION OF THE NEWS' medal to give him. They could just not invite him.