After enduring a skewering at the hands of President Barack Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Donald Trump seems to be in no rush to repeat the experience.
The Republican presidential frontrunner told The Hill in an interview published Wednesday that he would not attend the annual dinner despite the many invitations he has received from media outlets.
“I was asked by every single group of media available to mankind [to attend],” Trump told the news site. “But I’ve decided not to go. Do you know why? I would have a good time and the press would say I look like I wasn’t having a good time.”
Journalists who attended the 2011 event reported that the New York real estate mogul appeared miserable after both Obama and comic Seth Meyers tore him apart during their speeches.
Obama mocked Trump, who was then considering a run for the White House, for his involvement with NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” and his insistence that the President provide proof that he was really born in the United States.
Though Trump rushed out of the event and refused to answer reporter’s questions, he told TPM at the time that Obama’s speech was “very good.”
He maintained that he enjoyed the event in his recent Hill interview, saying he “was honored by all of the attention.”
“The President told joke after joke and it was good,” he said. “They were all very nice and delivered nicely and I had a great time and told the press. For four years, I’ve read what a miserable time I had.”
Trump was subject to less ridicule when he attended the 2015 dinner, where Obama tossed only one zinger in his direction.
“Donald Trump is here,” the President said. “Still.”
