President Donald Trump returned to the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Friday night, delivering a rambling, hourlong speech that praised some journalists, took potshots at others, made jokes about public figures’ weight and intellect, and quipped about a third presidential term.
He assured the crowd of journalists, though, that he’d scrapped the most biting parts of his remarks.
“That was going to be a doozy,” Trump said about the speech he’d been prepared to give in April, before a gunman upended the original dinner and forced its postponement.
“As I said three months ago, the show must go on,” the president said to begin his remarks, hailing the decision to reschedule the dinner. He referred to “the attempted mass murder” that could have happened that night in April, but then moved largely to humor — and, increasingly, insults.
Trump’s return to the correspondents’ dinner — and his promise to come back next year as well — represented a notable moment in his relationship with the news media, which he has attacked, sued and taken administrative action against since he began his second term early last year. Among the audience members were reporters he had denounced and barred from events.
Trump’s sometimes off-color speech, which lasted just over an hour, was full of potshots directed at various individuals — from Bruce Springsteen to “Barack Hussein Obama” to familiar targets like journalist Kaitlan Collins of CNN, one of the evening’s key award winners, whom he again accused of not smiling enough. The audience reacted at first with friendly laughs, but slowly quieted to scattered titters as the insults piled up.
Among other targets of Trump’s humor: Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel; Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; California Gov. Gavin Newsom; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; and even Trump’s own speechwriters. “That was actually the only thing I thought was good in this whole fricking stupid speech they wrote,” he said when one joke fell flat.
At one point, Trump wondered aloud what his role was. “Is this supposed to be fun?” he asked. “Am I supposed to be a comedian?” He was on more comfortable ground expressing pride in the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria, formerly the Trump International Hotel, and its chandeliers. “It’s great to be back at a place that I know very well, because I built it,” he said.
He also made a pained reference to the evening’s journalism awards, many for stories challenging him and his administration — including one for the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Do I have a say in those awards?” he asked.
He made brief mention of the Iran war, and referred to the ballroom he’s building at the White House. He also used the occasion to joke about the possibility of a third term — something barred by the U.S. Constitution’s 22nd Amendment.
“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better,” the president quipped. “And the third time will be better yet.”
He added: “I’m only kidding.” Then, at the end, he donned a red cap that said “Trump 2028” and delivered the “scoop” that he was running again.
It was a very different dinner than the previous one
Trump had entered the ballroom to polite applause, and was thanked for his support by outgoing White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News. After dinner, he sat through more than an hour of awards presentations, shaking hands with each winner.
One of the those winners, Tyler Pager of the New York Times, was in fact one of the reporters subpoenaed by Trump’s Justice Department over his reporting about Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet. Those subpoenas were withdrawn Thursday in a New York courtroom — just one of the arenas where the president has been seeking to control media coverage he dislikes.
The rescheduled dinner took place at a smaller venue this time that held only about 700 people. Security was markedly tighter. Guests entered via a single entrance, through two ID checks. There was no red carpet and no separate cocktail receptions preceding the dinner.
“Let’s try this again,” Jiang quipped, welcoming the crowd. The White House press corps, she noted, “always have a follow-up.” Turning serious, she referred back to the trauma and confusion of the original dinner in April.
“Tonight our message is this: We are back,” she said. “We will not be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word.”
Secret Service agent, hotel staff received awards for bravery during shooting
Also receiving an award Friday evening was Victor Gonzales, the Secret Service agent who was staffing a security checkpoint in April and was struck in his protective vest.
Gonzales “placed himself directly in harm’s way and engaged the armed suspect,” Jiang said. “He stayed in the fight and the attacker was stopped.”
A second award was presented to the staff of the Washington Hilton, site of the first dinner, for their professionalism under pressure.
The dress code this time was a looser “black tie optional,” and dinner included grilled peach and burrata salad, lobster and roasted beet Wellington. As in April, the featured entertainment was mentalist Oz Pearlman — who now got the chance to perform his act.
Jiang and fellow board members had emphasized they did not want to let a violent act — or the image of colleagues hiding under tables — remain the final thought. Announcing the rescheduling, she’d emphasized the dinner’s stated purpose: “A celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century.”
There’s still lots of criticism of the event
But some people felt the dinner should not have been rescheduled at all.
Many never thought it was much of a good look in the first place, with the sight of journalists in formal wear cozying up to their sources, or the objects of their reporting.
“It undermines the public faith in how the press does its work, and it makes it look like we are pals with the people we cover,” Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, said when the deliberations were taking place.
The new dinner came at a time of fast-increasing tension between the media and a president who has applied pressure on media outlets he’s unhappy with in a variety of ways. That pressure has ranged from sanctions against members of the White House press corps to regulatory actions through the Federal Communications Commission to outright lawsuits.
Trump ended his remarks, though, ended with an attempt to mend fences — to a point. “I have a lot of respect for your profession,” he told the assembled journalists.
He also touted his own success, declaring: “When I’m not around, you’re all gonna be broke.”
And he concluded about the evening: “It’s far worse than I originally thought.”
