President Trump to skip White House Correspondents' Dinner

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Trump to skip White House Correspondents' Dinner again

The White House announced press secretary Sarah Sanders will go in the president's place; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

President Trump said in an interview Friday that it is unlikely he will attend the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association, as he took a swipe at members of the press and called them “novelists.”

In a radio interview with “Bernie and Sid in the Morning,” which aired Friday, he described the press as “so bad, it’s so fake.”

“I call them novelists,” he said, accusing members of the press of sometimes making up sources.

“In many cases they literally make up sources. You know, ‘nine sources in the White House have said.’ There are no nine sources,” he said.

He also said it was unlikely he would attend the April 28 White House Correspondents' dinner, which he did not attend in 2017.

“I probably won’t do it,” he said.

Shortly after his remarks were aired, the White House Correspondents’ Association said that the White House had told them the president would not be in attendance.

"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,” WHCA President Margaret Talev said in a statement.

Talev said that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders would be representing the Trump administration at the head table.

“The April 28 dinner celebrates award-winning reporting, scholarship winners and the vital role of the First Amendment and the free press in American democracy," Talev said.

Fox News' John Roberts and Jenny Buchholz contributed to this report.