WASHINGTON — For the first time in six years, a US president has attended the White House press corps’ annual gala.

The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is an event to reward outstanding journalism and poke fun at reporters and the US president.

Officials canceled previous dinners in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic and US President Joe Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump shunned the event while he was in office.

Trump was also not in attendance this year, a fact that Biden made fun of during his address.

“Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year," he told an audience of 2,600 people, including officials, celebrities and journalists.

“Now that would really have been a real coup."

The dinner also took a serious tone as the war in Ukraine loomed over the event.

"What's clear, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, is that you, the free press, matter more than you ever did in the last century,” Biden added.

“We've all seen the courage of Ukrainian people because of the courage of American reporters in this room, and your colleagues across the world who are on the ground taking their lives in their own hands."

The dinner was the first time that Biden attended the event while in office. — Euronews