Kenan Thompson to host White House correspondents dinner | TheHill

The White House Correspondents’ Association announced Tuesday that comedian Kenan Thompson would host its 2020 dinner.

Thompson, a “Saturday Night Live” star, has performed in 17 seasons of the late-night comedy show and is its longest-tenured cast member. Thompson received his first Emmy Award for his work on the program in 2018.

The 2020 correspondents’ dinner, which will be held on April 25, will also feature entertainment from Hasan Minhaj, who hosts Netflix’s “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj,” for which he won a Peabody award in 2019. Minhaj also served as the entertainer at the correspondents’ dinner in 2017, when he worked as a comedy correspondent on “The Daily Show.”

“Kenan and Hasan are two of the most engaged and engaging entertainers in America. I’m thrilled they’ll help us celebrate the role of a free press in our democracy,” White House Correspondents’ Association President Jonathan Karl said in a statement Tuesday.

“We’re looking forward to a lively evening honoring the most important political journalism of the past year,” Karl said.

The White House correspondents’ dinner has typically featured a comedian as its host, but broke that tradition last year when the organizers selected historian and author Ron Chernow as the entertainer to lead the evening.

Traditionally, the annual dinner has brought together journalists and administration officials with  the president and vice president attending. But that has shifted in recent years, with President Trump Donald John TrumpRussian sanctions will boomerang States, cities rethink tax incentives after Amazon HQ2 backlash A Presidents Day perspective on the nature of a free press MORE skipping the dinner each year during his tenure in the White House.

Last year, Trump, who has long feuded with the news media, also ordered administration officials not to attend the correspondents’ dinner.

It's unclear whether Trump will reverse and attend the 2020 dinner, or whether he plans to again order a boycott by officials working in his administration.