The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has always been a cringefest. Trump just makes it obvious.

This year’s disaster has been decades in the making

The certain awkwardness of President Donald Trump gloating about his presidency in front of a silent press corps at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner — a gala intended to celebrate both free speech and the work of the watchdogs who hold the president accountable — is a trainwreck that should have been averted years ago.

And it’s got very little to do with this particular president, who has denigrated and undermined the Fourth Estate as part of his playbook to weaken journalism’s ability to hold power to account.