President Donald Trump returned Friday night to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, delivering a rambling, hour-long address that mixed praise, insults, and humor in roughly equal measure.
The dinner, held at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, had originally been scheduled for April before a gunman forced its postponement following a shooting at the venue.
“As I said three months ago, the show must go on,” Trump said to open his remarks, hailing the decision to reschedule the event.
He referred to “the attempted mass murder” that could have occurred at the April dinner, before pivoting largely to humor and pointed jabs at public figures.
Trump took aim at a wide range of targets, including Jane Fonda, Bruce Springsteen, former President Barack Obama, late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, Rep. Ilhan Omar, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The audience, which initially responded with friendly laughter, grew progressively quieter as the insults accumulated over the course of the evening.
Among the more notable moments, Trump joked about the possibility of serving a third presidential term, which is prohibited under the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better,” Trump said. “And the third time will be better yet,” before quickly adding, “I’m only kidding.”
At the close of his speech, Trump donned a red cap reading “Trump 2028” and announced as a punchline that he was running again.
The president also acknowledged the journalism awards distributed earlier in the evening, most of which recognized reporting critical of his administration, asking the crowd with a grimace, “Do I have a say in those awards?”
One award recipient, Tyler Pager of the New York Times, had been subpoenaed by Trump’s Justice Department over his reporting on a Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet, though those subpoenas were withdrawn on Thursday in a New York courtroom.
Outgoing White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News thanked Trump for his support and opened the evening with a pointed reference to the violence that derailed the April event.
“Tonight our message is this: We are back,” Jiang said. “We will not be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word.”
Two special awards were added to this year’s program, including one presented to Victor Gonzales, the Secret Service agent who was struck in his protective vest during the April shooting while staffing a security checkpoint.
Jiang said Gonzales “placed himself directly in harm’s way and engaged the armed suspect,” adding that “he stayed in the fight and the attacker was stopped.”
A second special award was presented to the staff of the Washington Hilton hotel, the site of the original April dinner, in recognition of their professionalism under pressure.
Security at the rescheduled dinner was significantly tighter, with guests entering through a single entrance, passing two ID checks, a detection dog, armed officers, and security guards, with no red carpet or cocktail receptions.
The venue accommodated only around 700 attendees, a considerably smaller gathering than the original dinner, and the dress code was relaxed to “black tie optional.”
Not everyone welcomed the decision to reschedule, with some critics arguing the dinner sends the wrong message about press independence from the figures journalists are meant to cover.
“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,” said Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute.
Trump concluded the evening with a mixed gesture toward reconciliation, telling the assembled journalists, “I have a lot of respect for your profession,” before adding, “When I’m not around, you’re all gonna be broke.”
