Trump revives 2020 election claims and dons 2028 campaign cap
President Donald Trump delivered his first address as president at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Friday at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, three months after an assassination attempt during the April 25 gala forced its cancellation.
“I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their very delicious beef tenderloin,” Trump said toward the end of his more than hourlong address, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump said the rescheduled event was needed because the nation cannot “yield to political violence,” the Journal reported.
Presidents have traditionally used the dinner to trade good-natured digs at the media and themselves. Trump offered some self-deprecating humor at the start, but the bulk of his remarks focused on his critics, the Journal reported.
He called the gathering “the largest group of Trump Derangement Syndrome people ever put together at one time,” according to the Journal. “I gave up on traditional press,” Trump said, boasting about his popularity on TikTok.
Trump joked that he regretted sharing his phone number with so many reporters because he is inundated with calls. However, he said, “I always find that when you don’t speak to the press, you always get a bad story. When you do speak to the press, you have a shot at getting a good story.”
The president made comments about several usual targets. “This year the association decided not to have a comedian, so they considered using Jimmy Kimmel,” Trump said of the late-night host, whom the president has said should be fired by Disney’s ABC.
Of Bruce Springsteen, Trump said the “Born in the U.S.A.” singer “looks like hell” and suggested a new name for his tour: “Bored in the U.S.A.”
Trump made remarks about his Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was in the audience and is known for a habit of picking up roadkill. “I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy … personally ran over the cow in his car,” Trump said, referring to the beef tenderloin served at dinner. Kennedy also offered an appetizer made from raccoon roadkill, Trump said, according to the Journal. “He’s a very different kind of person,” the president said.
Trump used the start and end of his speech to bring up a favorite topic: running for president again, even though the Constitution does not allow it. Near the end, he put on a red “Trump 2028” cap and pushed unfounded claims that the 2020 election had been rigged, so he would actually be pursuing a fourth win.
He said the war with Iran is going “extremely well,” even as polling shows voters are increasingly concerned about the situation in the Middle East and gas prices are on the rise again, the Journal reported. “Don’t believe the fake news,” he said, ticking off recent U.S. military successes and adding that Iran would “love to make a deal.”