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Al Jazeera reports [aljazeera.com]

[A day after a fierce fight erupted over press access to the White House,] US President Donald Trump has announced he will not attend a century-old annual correspondents' dinner.

In a post [twitter.com] on Twitter on Saturday [February 25], Trump wrote: "I will not be attending the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this year. Please wish everyone well and have a great evening!"

He made the announcement just a day after a speech to conservative activists, wherein he reiterated his criticism of journalists as "the enemy of the people", [video] [aljazeera.com] [transcript] [vox.com] and a decision by his spokesman to exclude [aljazeera.com] major news organisations, including Al Jazeera, from a media briefing.

The reporters' group said it would go ahead with its April 29 dinner despite Trump's decision, which breaks with an annual tradition in which the US president is the guest of honour at a light-hearted roast held by journalists and typically studded with movie stars, politicians and business leaders.

The dinner "has been and will continue to be a celebration of the First Amendment and the important role played by an independent news media in a healthy republic", said Jeff Mason, a Reuters White House correspondent who heads the association this year.

Ronald Reagan was the last president to miss the event after he was shot in 1981.

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