Trump lashes out at media as he completes 100 days

Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on January 20 and completes hundred days in office on Saturday.

Washington, April 30: Celebrating the first 100 days of his administration, US President Donald Trump attacked the media for allegedly misleading Americans as he skipped the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner in the capital.

"I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington's swamp, spending my evening with all of you with a much, much larger crowd and much, much better people. The media deserves a very big, fat, failing grade," Trump said amidst a cheering crowd at Harrisburg in Pennsylvania, a state which played a critical role in his electoral victory last November.

He said that "a large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in the nation's capital right now, referring to the annual dinner at a luxurious hotel which was sold out to more than 2600 crowd, comprising of nation's political players, and top journalists along with celebrities and diplomats."

"This is for the first time in decades that a serving US President decided against attending the annual event of journalists who cover him round the clock. None of the White House staff were present on the occasion in support of the President's decision," he added.

The last president to miss the White House Correspondents' Dinner was Ronald Reagan back in 1981, and that was because he was recovering from an assassination attempt.

In his address, Trump said that "his rally to celebrate the completion of his first 100 days in office drew a much larger crowd and better people too."

"They would love to be with us right in the rally tonight. They are trapped at the dinner, which will be very, very boring," Trump said, but indicated that he would be present at the Correspondents' Dinner next year. Next year's dinner might be more exciting," he said.

PTI