President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked various media organizations, is skipping the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner for the second year in a row, according to the group that throws the event.
"The White House has informed us that the president does not plan to participate in this year's dinner but that he will actively encourage members of the executive branch to attend and join us as we celebrate the First Amendment," the association's president, Margaret Talev, said in a statement.
Trump himself addressed the question Friday morning.
"I probably won't do it," the president said during a radio interview with New York radio show, 77 WABC's "Bernie & Sid," when the hosts asked whether he would attend the dinner.
Trump's decision to avoid the lavish affair – an annual parade of celebrities, journalists and politicians – isn't necessarily a surprise, although he did attend the journalist-hosted Gridiron Dinner last month.
The president often uses the media as a punching bag, including during his recent attacks on The Washington Post, which he falsely describes as a "lobbyist" for tech giant Amazon.
The CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, owns the Post, but the two companies are operated as separate entities.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will represent the administration at the head table at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 28.
