Correspondents’ Dinner’s biggest moments involve laughs, cringing and high-stakes politics[html]
President Ronald Reagan watches as first lady Nancy Reagan comments from the podium during the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner on April 23, 1987, in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Tasnadi, File)2026-04-24T11:07:53Z
data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/white-house-correspondents-dinner">The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has had multiple iterations since it began a few years after World War I.
Washington’s premier soiree on Saturday is most identified by its modern form: a red carpet for the capital’s journalism elite, political staffers and an assortment of American business leaders and celebrities — with the leader of the free world and a comedian offering roasts.
Some years are forgettable and relegated to C-SPAN archives. Others produce viral moments — funny, cringeworthy or undeniably tense — and endure across social media.
Here’s a look at some of that history as Donald Trump prepares for the first time to attend as president:
Ronald Reagan once gave up the chance to rebut a comedian
As a former Hollywood actor, the 40th president had a magnetic stage presence and easy manner with a joke, and it was during Reagan’s presidency that comedians became an annual part of the dinner.
In 1983, Mark Russell, whose satire was a PBS staple, offered relatively tame jabs at Reagan. “There is another speaker following me,” he opened, “and so it is quite an honor for me to be doing the warmup for my chief writer here.”
When it was the president’s turn, Reagan demurred. He reminded the audience that he’d made “a sad journey” to Andrews Air Force Base earlier that day to receive the remains of the Americans killed in the April 18 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon.
“I realize the original plan was that I would, in a sense, sing for my supper. In fact, I was prepared, not really to sing, but to do what you expected,” Reagan said, before explaining that it would be inappropriate for him to deliver humorous remarks. “If you’ll forgive us,” he said, “I’ll keep my script, and I hope you’ll give us a rain check, and it’ll still be appropriate next year.”
Dana Carvey and George H.W. Bush: A rare friendship
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Comic Dana Carvey, left, shows President George H.W. Bush how to imitate himself, Dec. 8, 1992, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)
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Comic Dana Carvey, left, shows President George H.W. Bush how to imitate himself, Dec. 8, 1992, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File)
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Presidents have been lampooned on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” since Chevy Chase first depicted Gerald Ford in 1975. But Dana Carvey and President George H.W. Bush set the standard.
Carvey, who also played the iconic Church Lady, embellished the 41st president’s nasal tone and patrician air to caricature his signature phrases: “Not gonna do it. Wouldn’t be prudent.”
Bush became a fan. He and Carvey sat together at Bush’s last dinner as president, in 1992. After he lost to Bill Clinton that November, the president invited Carvey to the White House for a Christmas party. The two data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/a97895766d8e404fa22cf40202c63542">remained friends.
George W. Bush jokes about weapons of mass destruction
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President George W. Bush laughs as comedian Jay Leno tells jokes at the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner in Washington, on May 1, 2004. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
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July 24, 2026, 08:37:19 AM