Attacks on the media and critics: the Trump show takes centre stage at the correspondents’ second dinner
At the event – which was smaller in scale and held at the Waldorf Astoria rather than the usual Washington Hilton, amidst extraordinary security measures – Trump was met with an icy silence. And with awards presented to the journalists who had investigated the president.
It was a White House Correspondents’ Dinner, attended by Donald Trump, which was far more low-key than the grand gala held last April. That gala was dramatically interrupted by an attempted armed raid by Cole Allen, who is accused of targeting members of the administration and Trump himself. But last night’s ‘encore gala’ turned out to be quite a spectacle in its own right: it first transformed the Waldorf Astoria hotel in the capital into a sort of fortified stronghold. Then, amidst heightened security measures by the Secret Service, it became the setting for another hour-long, aggressive speech by the president against those he considers his enemies, from journalists to critics of all kinds.
Trump tried to joke, telling journalists that they were “lucky to have him” and that they would go bankrupt once he left the scene. Because “nobody cares about anybody else”. His jokes, however, fell flat. This was partly because he personally disparaged some journalists. Among them was Kaitlan Collins of CNN, whom he described as attractive but someone who never smiles. CNN issued a statement defending the professionalism of its reporters.
Collins was also among the journalists honoured during the evening, in what was almost a direct challenge to Trump. Her colleagues at the New York Times were also honoured for their investigations into the new Air Force One and its faults, which infuriated the president and prompted legal action that was subsequently dismissed by the courts. And from the Wall Street Journal, for articles on the links between Trump and the controversial financier Jeffrey Epstein, who are themselves out of favour with the White House.
The awards provided an opportunity for White House correspondents to reaffirm the importance of the First Amendment – freedom of speech and of the press – in front of Trump. Perhaps in response, the President concluded his speech with a scathing review of the entire event: “It was even worse than I had imagined.”
Before his closing remark, he had time to lash out not only at journalists but also at politicians from the Democratic opposition, such as California’s Governor Gavin Newsom, whom he branded as mentally deficient. Other targets included his former rival for the White House, Kamala Harris, former President Joe Biden and the Governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, whose physique he mocked.
