Trump forced to play good sport at correspondents’ dinner – but it couldn’t last

Trump Delivers Remarks at Rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner

President Donald Trump addressed the White House Correspondents’ Association at a rescheduled dinner held on July 24 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington. The event followed an April incident in which authorities said Cole Tomas Allen attempted to enter the original gathering before being stopped by Secret Service agents. Both the association and the White House decided to hold a second dinner rather than cancel the annual event.

The dinner took place in a smaller setting than the usual format. Organizers selected the Waldorf Astoria and limited attendance to approximately 700 guests, compared with 2,600 at the April event originally scheduled at the Washington Hilton. Security personnel were visible throughout the evening. Outgoing WHCA president Weijia Jiang had described the revised gathering in advance as more intimate.

Trump spoke after awards were presented to journalists, including a Wall Street Journal team that received the Katharine Graham award for courage and accountability for reporting on the president’s past relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Trump shook hands with members of the team. One reporter on the team had been named in a $20 billion lawsuit filed by Trump, which listed the reporter’s home address.

In his opening comments, Trump referred to the April incident. “Tonight we come back together to answer that heinous attack with unwavering resolve, and every one of us here this evening to show that in America we do not yield to political violence,” he said. He added that differences in the country are settled “not with bullets, but with open and vigorous debate.” Those remarks received applause from the audience.

Trump also noted his prior ownership of the hotel when it operated as the Trump International Hotel. He said he had built it for $2.9 billion less than the cost of the Federal Reserve Building. He commented on the awards being presented, asking, “This has not been an easy evening. All these awards. Do I have a say?”

Jiang had framed the evening around the theme of celebrating the First Amendment. She stated that founders of the Constitution had criticized the press yet recognized its role, and she distinguished between criticism of the press and efforts to undermine it.

Trump continued with a series of jokes and comments directed at individuals and groups. He joked about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., saying Kennedy had run over a cow and prepared the beef tenderloin served at the dinner, and that Kennedy had also suggested an appetizer of male raccoon roadkill. The remark drew laughter. He referred to Sen. Adam Schiff as “watermelon head because he has the largest head I’ve ever seen with the smallest pencil neck.” He described comedians Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Stephen Colbert as “people without talent.”

Trump stated that the speech he delivered was more generous than the one he had prepared for the April event. He later said he believed in the free press more than anyone in the room. During his administration, subpoenas had been issued for several New York Times reporters and their relatives after the newspaper published reports on security issues involving a new Air Force One aircraft that had been received as a gift from Qatar.

Trump also spoke about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar. Audience members were observed checking phones during portions of the address. The speech lasted 65 minutes. It concluded with the song “YMCA” by the Village People.

The dinner marked the first time Trump had spoken at the association’s annual event as president. Earlier in the evening, awards recognized reporting on various topics, including coverage of the administration. Trump had previously described many news organizations as sources of “fake news.”