Trump Doled Out the Insults at WHCA Dinner

President Trump returned to the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association dinner on 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, per the AP. "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've happened that night in April, but then moved largely to humor—and insults. The president's sometimes off-color speech, which lasted just over an hour, was full of vague potshots directed at individuals he doesn't like—from Jane Fonda to Bruce Springsteen to "Barack Hussein Obama." The audience, reacting at first with some friendly laughs, 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; California Gov. Gavin Newsom; former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; and Trump's own speechwriters, whose jokes he sometimes criticized even as he delivered them. Some of the comments flirted with racism. The president also spent some time expressing pride in the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, formerly the Trump International Hotel. "It's great to be back at a place that I know very well, because I built it," Trump said.

He also made reference to the journalism awards that had been handed out earlier in the evening, most of them for stories challenging him and his administration. "Do I have a say in those awards?" he asked with a grimace. He made a brief mention of the Iran war and several remarks about the ballroom he's building at the White House. He also used the occasion to joke about the possibility he'd run for a third term—something barred by the US 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 donned a red cap at the end that said "Trump 2028" and delivered the "scoop" that he was running again. More here.