Trump Roasts Journalists at Correspondents’ Dinner: ‘This Has Not Been an Easy Evening’

President Donald Trump took the stage at the make-up White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday, joking, “This has not been an easy evening,” after the organization honored journalists for reporting on a series of stories unfavorable to the president, including his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The original dinner, on April 25, was cut short after Cole Tomas Allen allegedly opened fire outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel, killing no one but injuring a Secret Service agent who was shot atop a bulletproof vest. Allen has since pleaded not guilty.

Among the awards Trump was referring to on Friday, The Wall Street Journal received the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability for its reporting on a lewd birthday card and drawing that Trump allegedly sent to Epstein.

“This has not been an easy evening,” Trump quipped. “All these awards. Do I have a say? Those awards, oh those awards.”

He continued:

But, it’s great to be back at a place that I know very well because I built it. And I’m very proud of it because I built it for $2.9 billion less than the Federal Reserve building, which is a lot smaller, by the way. Figure that one out! But, I am delighted to be here at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Amazing people. A lot of people that I like, some I don’t like at all. But I respect most of ’em. I must say that you do a great job, an amazing job, and it’s an honor.

The president then acknowledged that “a lot was learned” from the previous WHCD dinner “about security.”

“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better,” he added. “And the third time will be better yet. I’m only kidding.”

Trump went on to call Allen’s attack “an assault on our democracy itself,” shouting out Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Border Czar Tom Homan for their “extreme bravery,” but noting, “Most of you were under the tables, okay?”

Watch the full clip above via Fox News.

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