'Beyond awkward, inappropriate': Trump to attend WH Press Correspondents' Dinner

[0:00] So President Trump has dinner plans tomorrow night with an unlikely group of table mates. [0:05] For the first time in either of his two terms, Trump will attend the White House Correspondents [0:10] Association annual dinner. It's a tradition dates back to 1921 that is intended to champion [0:15] the First Amendment and press freedom. Let's bring in MSNOW legal affairs reporter Fallon [0:21] Gallagher who has new analysis for MS.now titled, guess who's coming to dinner? The guy you'll see [0:29] in court. Fallon, take it away. Yeah, Jonathan, it's really significant that the president's [0:34] coming. We know that he's planning remarks. He's working with a comedian. We don't know what that's [0:38] going to look like, whether he'll roast the press, whether he'll roast himself. But what we can expect [0:43] is that this is probably going to be a pretty awkward dinner arrangement. And that is because [0:48] the president is battling with the press corps in courtrooms, not spending time with them in [0:53] dining rooms. And so, of course, there's always been tension between the president and the press [0:57] corps. We saw that during Trump one. We've been using the phrase fake news for over a decade now. [1:02] But this is different because I'm looking at a lot of the litigation that's happening in Trump 2.0. [1:06] I cover all of these cases very closely. And a big chunk of them can really be boiled down to the [1:12] president versus the press. And so I looked at all of these cases and they really fall into two [1:17] categories. And the first is actions, often legal actions, that the president is taking to target [1:22] journalists. Now, of course, a couple of weeks ago in the briefing room when he was talking about [1:26] that Iranian downed fighter jet or the American downed fighter jet in Iran, he threatened to jail [1:32] the journalists who first reported on that to find the leaker there. That was a clear escalation [1:37] in a fight that we've seen in recent weeks. Now, of course, there's also been lawsuits. He filed a [1:42] defamation suit against The Wall Street Journal for its reporting that the president had penned a note [1:47] in the Jeffrey Epstein birthday book that was coupled with a naked drawing of a woman. [1:53] And we later saw that birthday book. And there was a note that fit that description with the [1:57] president's signature on it. So he sued them for defamation. A judge threw out that suit last week [2:02] saying that the president hadn't met the actual malice standard that you need for defamation against [2:07] public officials. But then most notably, the biggest attack that we've seen legally from the [2:12] president and this administration towards the press was, of course, the indictment of journalist Don [2:16] Lemon and Georgia Fort for their role in covering an anti-ice protest in St. Paul, Minnesota. So [2:23] that's one big chunk. And we're seeing a lot of cases like that. That's just a few of them. [2:27] But then the other chunk is a series where the press is fighting back for systematic restrictions [2:32] that this administration is taking against the press. Now, of course, there were those executive [2:36] orders that defunded NPR and PBS. You saw both of those organizations fight back in court and get a [2:42] judge to block that action, calling it unconstitutional. But you also saw the president's [2:47] systematic dismantling of Voice America, which has been around since World War II to combat [2:53] propaganda globally. And so a judge last month blocked that action. Of course, the administration [2:59] is appealing that, and that'll go for argument soon. The other big one here, though, that we've [3:04] been covering pretty extensively here at MS Now is the Pentagon press case. The administration over at [3:09] the Pentagon instituted that new restrictive press policy, basically limiting the way that the press [3:15] can actually operate, where they can go, whether or not they need an escort, but also what they can [3:20] report. Of course, you'll remember that that first restrictive policy had limits on whether or not the [3:26] press could publish information that was coming from anonymous sources. So that was really notable. [3:31] The New York Times, of course, sued there, and a judge in a really scathing ruling blocked that [3:36] action ordered that the Pentagon needed to reinstate those press passes to all of those reporters who [3:40] opted to turn in their press pass instead of sign on to that restrictive policy that the judge said [3:45] violated the First Amendment. But all of these are the backdrop, and these cases are still ongoing [3:50] as this president is set to go to dinner, which makes us wonder, maybe he's trying to view this as [3:54] a sort of detente. Jonathan? I'm going to go the other way on that. Fallon, I think that, first of all, [4:00] it's a really important list. I'm glad you raised it. I think far more likely President Trump's going to [4:05] take some sort of victory lap at this dinner, which I would argue a very problematic dinner. [4:10] You just outlined part of the reasons why, indeed, he's filing a lawsuit against multiple [4:14] news organizations. We should not forget that his administration conducted a raid of a Washington [4:18] Post reporter's home, and this week we learned investigated a New York Times reporter. We know [4:25] this president likes to insult and demean reporters all the time. We know that he has cut press access. [4:30] You mentioned the Pentagon, also at the White House, you know, kicked, you know, reshaped the [4:36] pool, kicked reporters out to portions of the West Wing. He has put the press at the attacks on the [4:41] press at the center of his second campaign here. And Eugene Robinson, look, I'm a proud member of the [4:48] White House Correspondents Association, which does incredible work, and the dinner does raise money [4:55] for scholarships for journalists. We can do that another way. I think that this dinner, the time [5:00] for this dinner expired, I would argue, long ago, and particularly this year, it is deeply fraught. [5:07] Yeah, I look, I'm skipping all the events this weekend, and I would happily write a check [5:14] to support the scholarship efforts. And I think a lot of members of the Washington Press Corps would [5:22] also do the same. This just seems beyond awkward. There is this actual war going on between the free [5:32] press, which is enshrined in the First Amendment, and this president. And it just strikes me as [5:41] inappropriate, awkward, and I don't see what good is going to come from this. We'll see. [5:50] You know, Sal, do we expect him to stay, to stick to the script? Last night, he's having, [5:58] he did tomorrow night, he's having a comedian write jokes for him. I cannot remember a time when the [6:05] president has stuck to the script. Do we think he'll do so tomorrow night? [6:10] I mean, like you said, this is a president who never sticks to the script. He always ad libs, [6:14] but this is also a speech that he's writing with jokes that he's working with a comedian on. [6:19] I think what I'll be most looking for is whether or not these jokes are lighthearted, [6:23] or whether the roast is more on the attack end of the spectrum. [6:28] All right, well, the new piece available online now at ms.now, msnow, legal affairs reporter, [6:34] Fallon Gallagher. Thank you so much. And Ashley, final word to you on this, [6:38] but it does seem to be sort of an incongruous celebration of the First Amendment with [6:42] someone who is restricting press access repeatedly. [6:45] Absolutely. But can I leave on a positive note? Because I think this is very interesting. [6:50] We have the two biggest parties this weekend is our grinder. It's the hardest ticket. They're [6:56] doing their inaugural party and the executive branch, which is the Trump sons who started [7:02] this exclusive club. And both of those, it just shows you how polarizing D.C. is because [7:07] those are the hottest parties. All right. Well, there we go. Ashley Davis, thank you so much. [7:12] Eugene Robinson, great to see you, my friend. Thank you as well.