The Newseum welcomed President Obama during his 2009 inauguration. (Photo by Daniel Reidel)
As the tech billionaire who helped bring down Gawker is being discussed to lead the president-elect’s transition team, a D.C. venue that’s dedicated to defending the free press is planning its biggest inauguration party yet… for Donald Trump.
I watched President Barack Obama’s 2009 inauguration from the Newseum. An aspiring journalist, I gleefully wandered around snapping photos of reporters. I took pics with celebrities and, most importantly, watched history unfold. Joined by 5,000 other people, it was one of the most memorable days of my life—made possible by free entry into the building.
Today, the Newseum announced that guests can witness the swearing in of President-elect Donald Trump inside of the space for $500 per person ($350 for Newseum annual members and corporate and foundation partners). Three years ago—the museum’s second inaugural celebration—it charged attendees $100, and sold out with 3,500 guests, Scott Williams, the Newseum’s chief operating officer, told DCist.
This year, sales are limited to only 1,200 people, and the $500 price tag will allow for a more “all-inclusive” experience than in previous years, Williams said. In addition to food, drinks, and a stellar view of the inaugural parade, “we’ll have door prizes, lots of freebies, music and video… almost like an inauguration day cruise on Pennsylvania Avenue!”
The Newseum opened its downtown location in 2008, with a mission to “promote, explain and defend free expression and the five freedoms of the First Amendment: religion, speech, press, assembly and petition,” according to Williams.
Over the course of Trump’s campaign, his disdain for the media has included blacklisting nearly a dozen news outlets from The Washington Post and Politico to Buzzfeed and The Daily Beast. He responded to the sexual assault and harassment allegations lobbed against him by dozens of women by accusing the media of colluding with the “Clinton machine” to “elect crooked Hillary Clinton at any cost, at any price, no matter how many lives they destroy.”
“He vilified journalists at events, as ravenous supporters responded with jeers and slurs,” writes Michael Calderone of the Huffington Post, which began running a disclaimer at the bottom of every Trump article. It read: “Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the US.” With his election, the publication has dropped the note.
While it may be tough to pull off, Trump also vowed to “open up” libel laws to make suing the media easier.
In the first major event of his transition to power—meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House—Trump bucked the longstanding tradition of traveling with a pool of reporters. According to the Associated Press, “news organizations had for weeks tried to coordinate a pool of journalists who could begin to travel with Trump immediately after Election Day if he won election. But his campaign did not cooperate with those requests and his senior advisers refused Wednesday, the day after the election, to discuss any such press arrangements.”
Meanwhile, the Newseum is planning a party for soon-to-be President Trump. When asked about honoring a president with blatant disrespect for the media, Williams said that the Newseum celebrates the democratic process “and that includes the election of our 45th president.”
Although more 90 percent of D.C. voters cast ballots for Hillary Clinton, Williams said he expects that many people who show up at the Newseum on January 20 “will be celebrating the process as much as the winner.”
