President Trump Says 'Absolutely Not' to Attending COME FROM AWAY on Broadway

The cast and the audience at Come From Away welcomed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Broadway this week. At a special performance of the Canadian-born musical, Trudeau took the stage to celebrate the show and afterwards met the cast.

Also in attendance - the eldest daughter of Donald J. Trump, Ivanka, who attended the show with the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. But, who was invited and refused to attend? President Trump himself.

According to the Washington Post in a weekend feature about continued infighting in the White House:

Would he jet to New York at the invitation of Canada's progressive hero, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to attend a Broadway performance of "Come From Away," a musical that showcases the generosity of foreigners?

Or would he fly to Nashville to dip his head in reverence at the gravesite of Andrew Jackson and yoke himself to the nationalist legacy of America's seventh president?

Some of his New York-linked aides urged him to go to the play with Trudeau and Ivanka Trump, according to four senior Trump advisers. But Trump opted instead to follow his gut and heed Bannon's counsel.

"Absolutely not," the president said later of going to the play, according to one of the advisers.

Back in November, Vice President Mike Pence received a chilly reception at HAMILTON on Broadway, being booed and cheered upon his entrance, and being addressed from the stage by the show's cast.

According to an earlier report from Michael Paulson of the New York Times, the Counsel General of Canada had booked 500 seats for Canadians and friends of Canada in New York for tonight's show. In his address, Trudeau thanked the cast, who "worked to pull together such an extraordinary crowd to celebrate this story of friendship during extraordinarily difficult times between individuals between countries" and "spoke about "the close relationship between the United States and Canada."

"The world gets to see what it is to lean on each other and be there for each other," he told the audience in his brief remarks. Come From Away is the breathtaking new musical that played record-breaking engagements in La Jolla, Seattle, Washington D.C., and Toronto.

In a heartbeat, 38 planes with 6,579 passengers were stranded in a remote town in Newfoundland. The locals opened their hearts and homes, hosting this international community of strangers-spurring unexpected camaraderie in extraordinary circumstances.

See Trudeau's full remarks below