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Invitees ditch the White House Correspondents' Dinner, 'Nobody wants this'
The White House Correspondents' Dinner is expected to draw minimal attendance amid journalist fatigue and concerns over President Donald Trump's hostile relationship with the press, according to Politico. One anonymous White House reporter said, "Nobody wants this other than Donald Trump," while another admitted the event was "just exhausting." Journalists cited Trump's frequent attacks on media outlets as a primary reason for skipping the event, including his administration's issuance of subpoenas to reporters, threats of jail time against journalists, and lawsuits against news organizations. A prominent veteran journalist told Politico, attendees were "pretty unhappy about being there" due to growing "tension and unease." Additional factors include competing personal commitments, such as vacations and family events. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed concerns, attributing absences to scheduling conflicts and claiming Trump's speech will be "entertaining" and "unifying yet vicious."“Leavitt said the speech changed little from the version Trump planned to give in April,” Politico wrote.Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
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Trump says 'a lot was learned' from White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting
President Donald Trump thanks reporters and recalls the events of the night of the first White House Correspondents' Dinner earlier this year, where a gunman attempted to storm the room at the Washington Hilton.
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Trump condemns violence, slams press at White House Correspondents' Dinner
President Trump used his speech at Friday's rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association Dinner to condemn the political violence that postponed the annual event — and in the next breath attack and insult the gathered press. The big picture: The president opened with jokes to the hundreds of assembled journalists and even made a little fun of himself, in a speech that started light — before descending into a litany of familiar complaints about reporters and prominent Democrats.Zoom out: "In America we do not yield to political violence," Trump told event attendees, referencing the gunman who opened fire outside the ballroom where he and hundreds of others were gathered for the previously scheduled dinner in April. "In this country we believe in freedom of speech, we settle our differences not with bullets but with open and vigorous debate, and no deranged loser with a gun will ever change that. We can't let that ever happen," Trump said.A Secret Service agent was wounded during the shooting, and the dinner was called off, though Trump insisted it be rescheduled. Zoom in: This year marked the first time that Trump has attended a White House Correspondents' Dinner as president, and he engaged in the long-standing tradition of poking fun at the media and his administration. "It's great to be back as a place (I) know very well because I built it," Trump said, referencing the Waldorf Astoria's former life as Trump International Hotel. "I'm very proud of it because I built it for $2.9 billion less than the Federal Reserve building.""Everyone is looking really good tonight, and I know it's not easy finding shoes to match your bulletproof vest. Many people would rather die than look 20 pounds heavier, you know that, right? They put one on me. I said, 'Are you sure? I'm not wearing this.'"Between the lines: The speech wasn't without barbs and airing of some familiar grievances by the president, who discussed the need for the White House ballroom, complained about performers like Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Kimmel, and warned guests not to believe any "fake news" about Iran.He attacked prominent reporters by name, particularly going after CNN's Kaitlin Collins (demanding she smile more) and Jake Tapper (who he called "Fake Tapper"). CNN released a statement during Trump's speech defending its reporters, writing in part: "Honest, accurate journalism may sometimes irritate politicians, but our right to report and present that reporting without government interference is fully protected by the U.S. Constitution." Trump also cracked a joke about a "once-feared and powerful regime" being toppled and now being run by "a gay dictator facing internal divisions" — adding "I for one wish Bari Weiss all the best at CBS News." The line got only a muted response. 💭 Thought bubble, from Axios media correspondent Sara Fischer: The CBS jokes aside, Trump's repeated praise of Paramount chair David Ellison may complicate life for the company, which is currently facing an antitrust lawsuit from a dozen Democratic state attorneys general as it tries to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Friction point: There were also a few awkward moments for the president, as the Wall Street Journal was awarded a prize for its coverage of a letter Trump allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein.Trump chuckled at the announcement of the award, though he did congratulate the reporters when they came on stage.Trump also congratulated New York Times reporter Tyler Pager for another award; Pager was among those subpoenaed by the DOJ earlier this week over their reporting on the new Air Force One. The bottom line: Trump's speech, which ran just over an hour, started on a warmer tone but quickly descended into a familiar one of confrontation."For all of the trouble that you give me — you give me a lot of trouble, a lot of heartache — I hope all of you know that I believe in the free press more than anyone in this room does."He then donned a "Trump 2028" hat and pledged to run for another term, to chuckles and light applause.
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Trump Will Give ‘Unifying Yet Vicious’ Speech at Rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, White House Says
After the shooting at the April event, Trump revealed that he had intended to rip into the media during his speech, but would now likely not do so.
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Trump 'bombed' at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — but he stayed awake
President Donald Trump does not appear to be the entertainer he once was, reports CNN’s Brian Stelter. The president’s insult-laden speech drew mostly stunned silence from the audience as he attacked a bunch of journalists at the pared-down recap of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday.“Trump bombed at the ... Dinner Friday night. He knew he was bombing, too, and he even tried to meta-joke his way out of it,” reports Stelter. “But no. Even the president’s jokes about his bad jokes fell flat, and he was widely ridiculed for the comedy routine afterward.”In a “rambling hour-long speech,” Stelter said Trump insulted journalists by name, “repurposed old nicknames for political opponents, made a strange number of fat jokes that weren’t funny at all, and sounded mad at his unnamed writers for giving him weak material to work with.”“Does anyone understand this stuff?” he said at one point during the razzball speech. The answer, said Stelter, was “generally no. But more than anything, the speech was just … boring.”“Trump’s low energy led more than one TV executive to muse that the president had stumbled upon a new technique against the media: Tank the ratings with a snoozefest,” added Stelter. “Some attendees said they were surprised that Trump didn’t bring more original material, given how highly anticipated the dinner was, in part because his attendance ended his years-long boycott of the White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual fundraiser. Many journalists refused to attend, and the dinner was a small-scale redo of the April 26 black-tie affair that got called off after a gunman tried to rush into the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel, so Trump joked about bullet proof vests and how attendees hid under their tables while his staff bravely stood on tables and directed crowds.He gave shoutouts to media executives he considers propaganda allies, namely Larry and David Ellison, who took control of Paramount last year, killed off the high-rating show of late-night comic gadfly Stephen Colbert, destroyed legacy news show 60 Minutes and turned CBS News into a ratings flop.Ellison is now trying to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, and the parent company of CNN.“Under my administration, a once-feared and powerful regime that relentlessly attacked America has finally been toppled,” Trump said, referring to changes implemented by Ellison’s handpicked editor-in-chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss. “Their former leaders have been removed, and they’re now being run by a gay dictator facing internal divisions. But I, for one, wish Bari Weiss all the best at CBS News. She’s a wonderful woman.”“The more resentful and recycled Trump’s speech got, the more attendees seemed to tune it out,” said Stelter.One of the most intriguing parts of the evening involved the correspondents’ association’s annual journalism awards presentation, said Stelter, when Trump looked on while journalists earned multiple prizes, including one for “courage and accountability” in reporting that went to a team of Wall Street Journal reporters for their investigative work on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein with Trump’s name on it.“Trump quickly filed a $20 billion lawsuit against the Journal, revealing reporter Khadeeja Safdar’s home address,” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer said while presenting the award. To which “Trump laughed and threw up his hands in an aw shucks-like gesture,” according to Stelter.“Her family had to be relocated,” Blitzer added more somberly. “The Journal was kicked off of Air Force One, but the reporters continued to file revelatory stories.”
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