As the US media and celebrities gathered for a black-tie dinner that's been attended by every sitting president for the past 36 years, it was left to comedian Hasan Minhaj to address what he referred to as the elephant that wasn't in the room.
"You know Donald Trump doesn't drink, right? Does not touch alcohol, which is oddly respectable. But think about that. That means every statement, every interview, every tweet: completely sober. How is that possible? We've all had that excuse, haven't we? Like, 'I said what? No, listen babe, I swear to you, I was hammered, that's not who I really am'. "
But there was also a serious message from White House Correspondents Association head and Reuters correspondent, Jeff Mason, about the role of the media under a president whose attacks on it have reached new levels of vitriol.
"It is our job to report on facts and to hold leaders accountable. That is who we are. We are not 'fake news'. We are not failing news organisations and we are not the enemy of the American people."
The star guests were veteran Watergate reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward.
Bernstein recounted what he had learned about journalism from the pair's reporting for The Washington Post that helped lead to President Richard Nixon's resignation more than 40 years ago.
"Almost inevitably, unreasonable government secrecy is the enemy, and usually the giveaway about what the real story might be. And when lying is combined with secrecy, there is usually a pretty good road-map in front of us. Yes, follow the money but follow also the lies."
Having announced he wouldn't be attending the event several weeks ago, Donald Trump pointedly took off to Pennsylvania, a state that proved to crucial to his electoral victory in November.
But addressing the faithful at a Harrisburg rally, the dinner he was missing in the US capital wasn't far from the President's mind:
"As you may know, there's another big gathering taking place tonight in Washington, DC and I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington's swamp, because the Washington media is part of the problem. Their priorities are not my priorities and they're not your priorities believe me."
He continued with the anti-media theme in an interview with PBS to mark his first hundred days in office.
"What do you know now on day 100 that you wished you knew now on day one of the presidency?"
"Well one of this things I've learnt is how dishonest the media is... "
"Presidents have to learn how to adapt. Every president comes into the job, it's different than they expect, they must adapt. Surely you've learnt something else than that the media is dishonest?"
"No no , I'm just saying it was another of my disappointments... "
"Give me another lesson that you have had to adapt and learn because all presidents do at this stage?"
"Well I think that things generally go a little slower than you would like them to go."
It's an insight into the frustrations of a businessman-turned-president who's perhaps finding it a little harder to get his own way in the White House than he did in Trump Tower.
