The Gridiron Dinner: A Night of Absence and Division
The President’s Snub and the End of an Era
The annual Gridiron Club dinner, a longstanding tradition in Washington, D.C., took place on a crisp Saturday night, but this year’s event was tinged with an air of tension and absence. The club, founded in 1885, is known for its white-tie affair where journalists, politicians, and other power brokers gather to toast and gently roast one another. The motto, “singe, not burn,” reflects the lighthearted nature of the event. However, this year, the evening felt curdled, as President Trump and his inner circle declined to attend. Judy Woodruff, the club’s president and a PBS News anchor, revealed that invitations sent to the president, vice president, national security adviser, and interior secretary were all rebuffed. Even the secretary of state was unavailable. This snub was just the latest in a long line of rejections from the Trump administration, signaling the president’s clear disinterest in engaging with the Washington establishment.
The absence of Trump and his team was not just a personal slight but a symbolic statement. The Gridiron Club, traditionally a place where politicians and journalists could come together in a spirit of camaraderie, seemed to hold little appeal for the current administration. In past years, Trump had made some effort to engage with the club; he attended the dinner in 2018, and Ivanka Trump appeared on his behalf the following year. But this year, even those small gestures were absent. The only member of Trump’s cabinet to attend was Scott Turner, the secretary of housing and urban development. Margaret Brennan of CBS News quipped that Turner was “whatever the opposite of a designated survivor is,” highlighting the absurdity of his lone presence.
A Night of Regret and Distance
As news of Trump’s absence spread, other high-profile Republicans began to bail on the event. Chris LaCivita, one of Trump’s 2024 campaign managers, and Reince Priebus, Trump’s former chief of staff, both decided not to attend. Those who did show up seemed to regret it. Daniel Driscoll, the Army secretary, walked out during a joke about Vice President JD Vance. A White House official who skipped the dinner dismissed the event and its attendees as elites—exactly the kind of people Trump’s base believes he was elected to confront. This sentiment reflects the deepening divide between Trump’s administration and the Washington establishment, a divide that seems unlikely to narrow anytime soon.
The evening’s programming only exacerbated the tension. Skits and jokes targeted Democrats, Elon Musk’s shift to the far right, and the supposed populism of Vice President Vance and his wife, all of whom were mocked for their Ivy League credentials. The attendees included a mix of powerful figures, from private equity billionaire David M. Rubenstein to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, but the mood was far from lighthearted. Jokes about Jeff Bezos’ ownership of The Washington Post and his handpicked publisher, Will Lewis, drew acidic laughs, but the underlying animosity was palpable. The banquet hall erupted in applause for Ruth Marcus, a longtime Washington Post columnist who had resigned over Bezos and Lewis’s interference, but the gesture felt more like a rebuke than a celebration.
A Broken Tradition and the Death of Diplomacy
The Gridiron Club has long been a symbol of Washington’s ability to come together, even in the face of political differences. The annual dinner is a tradition that has survived for over a century, with presidents and journalists alike using the event as an opportunity to bridge divides and share a laugh. This year, however, it seemed like a relic of a bygone era. The usual toast to the president, even when he’s not in attendance, was noticeably absent. Judy Woodruff expressed regret that Trump and Vance were not present, but it was unclear whether the sentiment was sincere. The president’s absence, and that of his inner circle, raised questions about whether the Washington establishment still holds any significance for Trump and his base.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, summed up the evening’s mood: “It’s one of the norms of this town. We are all supposed to coexist, not for the sake of bad banquet food but because that’s how a democracy stays unified.” Goldberg’s words were poignant, but they felt more like a eulogy than a call to action. The evening highlighted just how far the country has moved from that ideal of coexistence. The deepening partisan divide, exacerbated by Trump’s fiery rhetoric and the media’s critical coverage, has made events like the Gridiron Club dinner feel increasingly irrelevant. The president’s absence was not just a personal choice; it was a rejection of the very idea that such events serve a purpose.
The Rise of a Counter-Establishment
Trump’s refusal to engage with the Gridiron Club is symptomatic of a larger shift in Washington’s power dynamics. The president has long positioned himself as an outsider, and his administration has made it clear that it has no interest in playing by the traditional rules of the game. Instead, Trump has built his own counter-establishment, complete with its own rituals and redoubts. Cabinet secretaries who snubbed the Gridiron Club can often be found at The Ned, an exclusive members-only club near the White House. Young Trump loyalists have their own clubhouse on Capitol Hill, called Butterworth’s, while MAGA billionaires host their own high-end dinner parties in the city’s upscale neighborhoods. Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida resort, has become the de facto center of his political and social universe.
The decline of traditional Washington institutions like the Gridiron Club is matched by the rise of these alternative power centers. Even the formal wear shop in Georgetown, Scogna, where Washington’s elite have rented their white ties and tuxedos for generations, reported its slowest business in years. Ismet Dil, the 75-year-old man who has run the shop for decades, summed it up: “This year is a bit sad.” The slow decline of Scogna mirrors the decline of the Gridiron Club and the broader Washington establishment it represents. Both are relics of a time when Democrats and Republicans, journalists and politicians, could come together in a spirit of shared purpose. That time may be gone for good.
A Democracy in Fragmentation
The Gridiron Club dinner was always more than just a social event—it was a ritual that reinforced the norms of democratic governance. By coming together, even in a lighthearted way, politicians and journalists were acknowledging the importance of coexistence. This year’s event, with its empty seats and strained jokes, felt like a funeral for that idea. The absence of Trump and his team was not just a snub; it was a rejection of the very notion that a unified democracy is worth striving for. The evening’s programming, with its acidic jokes and thinly veiled attacks, only highlighted the depth of the divide.
As the night wore on, it was hard not to wonder whether the Gridiron Club would survive in this new era. The club’s tradition of “singe, not burn” was always a fragile balance, but in a world where a chain-saw-wielding billionaire is tearing down the old order, it may no longer be possible. The video montage of Trump’s 2018 appearance, where he was self-deprecating and game, served as a stark reminder of how much has changed. Trump may have his own establishment now, but it is one that operates outside the norms and traditions of Washington. The question is whether those norms can ever be restored—or whether they are gone forever.
The Gridiron Club dinner was always a small but important part of the glue that held Washington together. This year, it felt like that glue was beginning to come undone. The absence of Trump and his team was not just a personal slight; it was a sign of a deeper fragmentation. As the night drew to a close, it was hard not to wonder whether the Gridiron Club—or the Washington establishment it represents—would ever be the same again.