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Elitist Dinner Party Didn't Do This for the First Time in Its 140-Year History. Can You Guess Why?

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  March 16, 2025 6:00 AM

It’s an insult that President Donald J. Trump would likely relish. All the right people hate him at this event, so he’d be happy to know they didn’t toast him. The Gridiron Dinner is a long-standing off-the-record event where the political elite, journalists, and politicians hobnob for the evening. It returned in 2022 after a lengthy hiatus due to the COVID pandemic (via The Hill): 

The Gridiron Club dinner, typically one of the most high-profile annual Washington media events, is making a return after three years. 

[…] 

It will mark the 135th anniversary for the District’s oldest journalists association, and the first time the dinner has been held since 2019. It was scrapped in 2020 amid the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with organizers saying despite holding the dinner “in wartime,” and “amidst all kinds of upheaval and turmoil,” they were canceling it in the interest of public health and not wanting to “put people at risk.” 

The white-tie affair — traditionally attended by the president — typically features lighthearted barbs and roast-style speeches from journalists and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, along with skits and comedy sketches. 

This year, the president was not toasted for the first time in its 140-year history. The First Amendment, however, was: 

The swamp creatures do not like Trump and what he’s doing. That’s fine. These folks tried everything they could to imprison Trump through the sustained lawfare and media character assassination attack. They all failed, and it only made him politically stronger. You can’t beat him. So, yeah, I can see why they opted to avoid toasting the man who’s trying to rebuild the country after a mental invalid essentially wrecked it.