\n Invoking the fact that Paramount owns CBS News, Trump said David Ellison is \u201cgoing to make, I think, fantastic changes and keep some of the great stuff going.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Trump also made a convoluted joke about the controversial changes implemented by Ellison\u2019s handpicked editor-in-chief of CBS News, Bari Weiss: \u201cUnder my administration, a once-feared and powerful regime that relentlessly attacked America has finally been toppled. Their former leaders have been removed, and they\u2019re now being run by a gay dictator facing internal divisions. But I, for one, wish Bari Weiss all the best at CBS News. She\u2019s a wonderful woman.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Toward the end of the speech, the president donned a red \u201cTrump 2028\u201d hat. His choice of attire seemed like a deliberate troll, given the outrage that erupts every time he talks about a constitutionally barred third term.\n <\/p>\n
\n He also said that he was only kidding about running again. Earlier in the evening, during a lengthy digression about his White House ballroom addition, he remarked that \u201cI\u2019m only going to be using it for about six months\u201d before leaving office, a rare acknowledgment that his term has an expiration date.\n <\/p>\n
\n The more resentful and recycled Trump\u2019s speech got, the more attendees seemed to tune it out.\n <\/p>\n
\n CNN\u2019s Betsy Klein, who was in the room, said many people were on their phones or talking amongst themselves. Others were eating macarons from the dessert trays, using the bathroom or mingling in the lobby.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe person at the table next to me has just poured himself a comically large glass of wine,\u201d she observed nearly an hour in.\n <\/p>\n
\n CNN\u2019s Kristen Holmes said a Republican source of hers in the room said to her, \u201cWhoever wrote this speech should be fired.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n But a few of the jabs will surely travel well on right-wing social media platforms, and Daniel Dale predicted that \u201cthe silence in the room will be portrayed by the president\u2019s allies as evidence he roasted the \u2018fake news\u2019 so bad they were stunned into submission.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n One of the most intriguing parts of the evening involved the correspondents\u2019 association\u2019s annual journalism awards presentation. Trump sat through multiple prizes, including one for \u201ccourage and accountability\u201d in reporting that went to a team of Wall Street Journal reporters for their investigative work on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein bearing Trump\u2019s name.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cTrump quickly filed a $20 billion lawsuit against the Journal, revealing reporter Khadeeja Safdar\u2019s home address,\u201d CNN\u2019s Wolf Blitzer said while presenting the award.\n <\/p>\n
\n Trump laughed and threw up his hands in an aw shucks-like gesture.\n <\/p>\n
![\"wsj.png\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/wsj-20260725011731478.png\")
<\/p>\n
WSJ reporters awarded for article on Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.\n <\/p>\n
![\"wsj.png\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/wsj-20260725011731478.png&q=w_860,c_fill\")
<\/p>\n
WSJ reporters awarded for article on Trump’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.<\/p>\n
2:10<\/p>\n
\n \u201cHer family had to be relocated,\u201d Blitzer continued. \u201cThe Journal was kicked off of Air Force One, but the reporters continued to file revelatory stories.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Trump then stood up and shook hands with each reporter. He is currently suing the Journal\u2019s parent company over the investigation, and legal experts say he will most likely lose the case.\n <\/p>\n
\n The outgoing president of the White House Correspondents\u2019 Association, Weijia Jiang, introduced Trump after discussing the importance of press freedom. Jiang drafted her remarks knowing that the president would be sitting next to her and listening.\n <\/p>\n
\n Jiang said there is \u201can existential difference between criticizing the press and trying to undermine it. One is healthy, and it makes all of us better. The other is exactly what the founders hoped to prevent.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n The CBS correspondent also addressed Trump directly: \u201cWhen we ask questions, you push back. You give us answers, and we push back. You have always been a deal guy. Well, that\u2019s the deal. And the First Amendment is a done deal. And that\u2019s what we toast tonight.\u201d\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Donald Trump bombed at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner Friday night. He knew he was bombing, too,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":824736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-824735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/824736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}