President Donald Trump was forced to sit through the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as he was roasted about press freedom and America being a country of “no kings.”
In another awkward moment, the Wall Street Journal won an award for exposing a lewd birthday letter Trump allegedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein, forcing the president to congratulate the journalists he had tried to sue.
Three months after the annual WHCA dinner was postponed after an attempted assassination against the president, a scaled-back redo was held on Friday night after the reality TV star-turned-president insisted the show must go on.
But in a somewhat humiliating moment for the octogenarian, the event kicked off with a lengthy video featuring journalists talking about the First Amendment, an AI image of Founding Father James Madison talking about the nation not being ruled by kings, and footage of Trump at various events calling the media “fake news.”
“Hello from 1789. I’m James Madison,” the AI version of the former president said as the current president watched on.
“Yes, that James Madison. I wrote the First Amendment. At the time, we worried a king might control the press. Turns out you’re now worried about tweets, algorithms, and people yelling on television. Let me clarify the rule: the government doesn’t get to shut the press up, not when it’s wrong, not when it’s annoying, and not when it’s asking uncomfortable questions.”
This year’s dinner was the first time Trump has attended since 2015, weeks before he launched his first presidential campaign.
The mood was noticeably different from the April event, which was derailed moments into the dinner after 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen stormed a security checkpoint and opened fire outside the ballroom where Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and the administration’s Cabinet members were seated alongside thousands of journalists and other guests.
The first lady, who was filmed looking terrified as she hid under the table after the shots rang out, opted not to attend Friday night’s event.
JD Vance, who has just welcomed his fourth child, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been touring Southeast Asia for the past few days, were also absent.
There was also less glitz and glamor, with no red carpet and no full week of pre-dinner parties and events that have become a staple of the annual gathering. Security was also heavily beefed up, with fencing and barricades across downtown D.C., a high police presence, and tighter protocols.
But the inevitable tension between the media and a president who has spent years portraying journalists as enemies of the state, suing news organizations, and using the machinery of government to pressure the media was evident.
Some journalists opted not to attend the event, while others, including the Daily Beast, did so in order to report on it.
The Association also gave The Wall Street Journal a coveted journalism award for “courage and accountability” for its coverage of the Jeffrey Epstein files—and for its reporting on a lewd birthday card Trump allegedly sent to the child sex predator for his 50th birthday.
Trump has vehemently denied writing the letter, which was sent in 2003 and features a drawing of a naked woman with his name mimicking pubic hair.
He also filed a $10 billion lawsuit against the publication, which was dismissed by a federal judge in April after it failed to meet the legal “actual malice” standard required for public figures.
Trump congratulated the journalists he had tried to sue, and then threw his hands up in the air, sparking laughter from the audience.
Photographer Andrew Harnik was also awarded for his iconic photo featuring Trump looking lost and confused in the Oval Office after a man collapsed behind him during an event last November.
The image immediately sparked ongoing speculation about the president’s health. Handing out the award, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer described it as a “truly striking image of contrast, skillfully captured in a chaotic moment.”
