--- ---  # Samantha Bee Will Roast President Trump on Night of White House Correspondents' Dinner by [Zamira Rahim](https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Jan 30, 2017 3:55 PM UTC  NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 29: Samantha Bee attends The Women's Media Center 2016 Women's Media Awards at Capitale on September 29, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/WireImage) NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 29: Samantha Bee attends The Women's Media Center 2016 Women's Media Awards at Capitale on September 29, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/WireImage)Mike Pont—WireImage by [Zamira Rahim](https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/) ## Zamira Rahim Jan 30, 2017 3:55 PM UTC Samantha Bee, host of the TBS comedy show [_Full Frontal With Samantha Bee_](http://samanthabee.com/)_,_ is planning a roast of President Trump on the same night as the annual [White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner](http://www.whca.net/dinner.htm). Her gala, to be called “Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” will take place at the Willard Hotel in Washington on April 29, [t](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/arts/television/donald-trump-correspondents-dinner-samantha-bee.html)[he New York _Times_ reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/arts/television/donald-trump-correspondents-dinner-samantha-bee.html). The traditional dinner sees the President, First Lady and members of the administration and White House press corps in attendance. Bee told the _Times_ that her event is not meant to compete with the annual dinner. “We’re not trying to supersede it,” Bee said. “We just want to be there in case something happens — or doesn’t happen — and ensure that we get to properly roast the president.” The official dinner usually features a comedic host targeting jokes at the President and attendees, as well as a speech — often humorous — delivered by the Commander-in-Chief. President Obama used the opportunity in 2011 to [mock Trump, then a ](http://time.com/3991301/donald-trump-barack-obama/?iid=sr-link1)[guest](http://time.com/3991301/donald-trump-barack-obama/?iid=sr-link1). The 2017 host is yet to be announced, and relations between the White House and the press have become fraught with Trump recently declaring that he is engaged in a “[running war](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/us/politics/trump-white-house-briefing-inauguration-crowd-size.html)” with the media. “The evening is sure to bring plenty of surprises, music, food, and laughter — and if you’re not careful you just might learn something,” Bee said in a statement given to [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/samantha-bee-white-house-correspondents-dinner-1201973157/). “Specifically, you’ll learn how screwed we’d be without a free press.” [\[The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/arts/television/donald-trump-correspondents-dinner-samantha-bee.html?module=WatchingPortal®ion=c-column-middle-span-region&pgType=Homepage&action=click&mediaId=thumb%5Fsquare&state=standard&contentPlacement=1&version=internal&contentCollection=www.nytimes.com&contentId=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F01%2F30%2Farts%2Ftelevision%2Fdonald-trump-correspondents-dinner-samantha-bee.html&eventName=Watching-article-click&%5Fr=0)\] Samantha Bee Plans White House Correspondents' Dinner Gala ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4653280/samantha-bee-white-house-correspondents-dinner-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4653280/samantha-bee-white-house-correspondents-dinner-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Samantha Bee Will Roast President Trump on Night of White House Correspondents' Dinner","datePublished":"2017-01-30T15:55:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:35.232Z","description":"'You’ll learn how screwed we’d be without a free press'","url":"https://time.com/4653280/samantha-bee-white-house-correspondents-dinner-donald-trump/","keywords":["motto","Donald Trump","White House Correspondents Dinner","samantha bee"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59a1a82c347a7a22/6988b7cd8e0601589f468fdd/samantha-bee-white-house-correspondents-dinner-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zamira Rahim","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zamira-rahim/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59a1a82c347a7a22/6988b7cd8e0601589f468fdd/samantha-bee-white-house-correspondents-dinner-donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Women's Media Center 2016 Women's Media Awards","caption":"The Women's Media Center 2016 Women's Media Awards","creditText":"Mike Pont—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4653280/samantha-bee-white-house-correspondents-dinner-donald-trump/","name":"Samantha Bee Will Roast President Trump on Night of White House Correspondents' Dinner"}}]}] ```