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US President Donald Trump has poked fun at the media at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner, a night that celebrated press freedom after the first event was cancelled by a shooting three months ago.
The president sat as reporters from outlets he has sparred with and even sued, including the New York Times, CNN and the Wall Street Journal, came up to be honoured with awards.
The outgoing WHCA head said she would “refuse to let an act of violence have the final word”, referring to the gunman tackled at the first dinner in April.
But the tone shifted as Trump aimed barbs at the “fake news” and accused many journalists in the room of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome”.
In her remarks, WHCA President Weijia Jiang of CBS News said the event would return to the scene of the April shooting, the Washington Hilton, next year.
The officer shot at the scene, officer Victor Gonzalez of the US Secretary Service, was given an award by Trump for his actions on the night of the shooting.
Trump stood and shook hands with award winners, including a Wall Street Journal team who was given an award for coverage of Trump’s links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Ahead of the event, many in the White House press corps theorised that Trump – who often criticises many of the reporters seated just metres away in the room – would deliver a stern rebuke of the media.
Image source, ReutersIn his remarks, Trump was at times cordial and conciliatory, saying “the second time is always better”, joking and praising the media – saying he respects “most of them”.
“As I said three months ago, the show must go on,” Trump said.
The US president also called on Americans to respect freedom of speech.
“We settle our differences not with bullets, but with open and vigorous debate,” Trump said. “And no deranged loser with a gun will ever change that. We can’t let that ever happen.”
Trump appeared to be in a good mood throughout the event, jokingly telling the media that “sometimes I really do think that some of you don’t like me”.
“This place [the dinner] is really the largest group of ‘Trump derangement syndrome’ people ever put together at one time,” he said. “I suspect some of you are lucky that our last dinner was cut short…I was going to go after you.”
The event was considerably scaled down from the first correspondents’ dinner, with about 700 people in attendance, compared with more than 2,000 in April.
Security was also tighter. Several blocks around the hotel were blocked off, with a heavy presence of police and national guard. Guests were screened twice, with QR codes and IDs, and were given wristbands.
At one point, visitors were prompted to walk in a single file line past two Secret Service officers holding rifles.
The suspect of the shooting in April, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president of the United States.
He was tackled by agents just short of a staircase which leads down to a ballroom where the dinner was getting underway.
Others in attendance on Saturday night included Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
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