In the same way that President Trump's second term is unlike any other, this weekend's White House Correspondents' Dinner will be unlike any other.
Trump is ending a years-long boycott and attending the gala for the first time as president. He'll be speaking before thousands of journalists and politicos — leaving attendees to wonder what he'll say and how the room will react.
Will the president use a dinner dedicated to the First Amendment to attack journalists and air his well-worn grievances? Or will he deliver the barbs with a lighter touch, perhaps in the joking, back-slapping manner he sometimes adopts around reporters?
Trump has hired joke writers, according to his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who recently said on a podcast that "I think everyone should get ready because he’s going to do some roasting, and we know that he doesn't hold anything back."
I mentioned earlier this week that this year's WHCA president Weijia Jiang will give remarks about the essential role of the press corps. Usually scholarships and journalism awards are presented first; then the WHCA president speaks; then the US president speaks; and then a comedian roasts everyone in the room.
But the WHCA has not shared the rundown for Saturday night yet. So: Will the president and First Lady Melania Trump be on stage for the journalism awards and greet each awardee, as has been custom with past presidents? (If so, it could get awkward, given that some of the winners are being recognized for work the president lambasted.)
Earlier this week a Daily Beast story indicated that Trump plans to "miss the presentation of press awards." I reached out to Jiang about that possibility this morning, and didn't hear back.
This year, partly to sidestep the potential backlash a comedic performance can cause, Jiang and the board booked mentalist
Oz Pearlman instead. If the performance is anything like Pearlman's appearance on CNN's New Year's Eve show, it's going to be incredible. But this raises another question: Will the president stick around for the mentalist and partake in having his mind read?
Pearlman talked with NPR about his preparations for the night, and said "my job is to bring us together." That would be more than a magic trick, that would be a miracle
