Trump returns to rescheduled White House press gala: 'The show must go on'

U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner on Friday, three months after a gunman disrupted the original event in April. "As I said three months ago, the show must go on," Trump said at the start of his speech following a lengthy awards ceremony where several journalists, including CNN's Wolf Blitzer, spoke.

Rescheduled event

The original dinner in April was cut short when an armed man attempted to storm the Washington Hilton venue with guns and knives in an alleged plot to assassinate Trump. Prosecutors have charged Cole Tomas Allen with attempting to kill the president and wounding a Secret Service officer. The rescheduled dinner took place at the Waldorf Astoria hotel ballroom with 700 guests, a much smaller gathering than the April event.

Trump's jokes and remarks

Trump used the speech to rebuke political opponents, presenting his attacks as jokes. He called California Governor Gavin Newsom "newscum," questioned Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's intelligence, and pretended someone in the audience was calling Illinois Governor JB Pritzker a "fat pig" to avoid uttering the insult himself. He also referred to top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer as "Palestinian" as an insult.

The president also joked about a third term, despite the constitutional two-term limit: "Just like my presidency, the second time is always better and the third time will be better yet," he said, adding, "I'm only kidding."

Changed attitude

Trump's enthusiastic attendance marked a sharp shift from his first term, when he declared the soiree "dead" and boycotted it for four years. This year, he praised the event as a "very good thing" and a "HOT ticket." WHCA president Weijia Jiang of CBS News thanked Trump for his support and for showing up for the second time in three months: "Tonight our message is this: We are back. We will not be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word."

Ongoing criticism

The White House Correspondents' Dinner has long been criticized by media professionals who argue that reporters should not become too chummy with the politicians they cover. Calls to abandon the dinner entirely grew after the April incident.