When World War I broke out, US President Woodrow Wilson advocated a non-interventionist, isolationist stance, but members of Congress pushed for entry into the war, creating conflict. At the time, President Wilson desperately needed public outreach. However, the congressional press corps insisted on determining the list of attendees for presidential press conferences themselves, and White House reporters who objected to this formed a separate organization. The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) was born this way in February 1914.
The WHCA, which adopted the First Amendment of the US Constitution guaranteeing freedom of the press and expression as its founding motto, was composed of American and foreign journalists covering the White House. The first annual WHCA dinner was held in 1921, when President Warren G. Harding, a former newspaper publisher, took office. However, despite his press-friendly stance, President Harding did not attend any WHCA dinners during his tenure, and President Calvin Coolidge became the first to join in 1924.
Featuring top-tier figures including politicians and entertainers, the WHCA dinner is so glamorous that it is called "Washington's Oscar stage." The highlight of the event is the president's speech, which runs about 20 to 40 minutes. The main attraction is the "black speech," in which the president mocks political rivals or the opposing party's weaknesses with sharp, cutting humor. In the harsh political reality where one must defeat opponents to win the presidency, the president's dinner speech is a stage that reveals not only the president's personal rhetorical standing but also the national character of American politics.
Except in unavoidable circumstances such as war, epidemics, or illness, it has been customary for US presidents to attend the WHCA dinner. However, President Donald Trump, who expressed hostility by calling the press "the enemy of the people," did not show up even once during his first term (2017-2020). Explaining why he attended for the first time this year after the launch of his second term, he boasted, "I accepted the invitation because the press corps acknowledges that I am truly one of the greatest presidents in American history." At the WHCA annual dinner on the 26th, a shooting incident occurred that laid bare the distorted face of polarized American politics. It is a grim self-portrait conceived by the politics of division and confrontation.
