He turned the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner into an attack on the media, America’s historic allies, and the Constitution itself. Donald Trump, three months after the failed attack – on which no full light has yet been shed – which forced the usual evening with the media to be interruptedhe returned to speak in front of journalists from the main American newspapers, in a climate of maximum security.
The meeting at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, “a demonstration of unshakable determination”, opened with the memory of what the American president defined as an “atrocious attack”.
The evening became the stage for a new, aggressive offensive by Trump against two of his favorite targets: Europe and the media.
A few months after the NATO summit in Ankara, where he had already accused Italy, Germany and France of having “turned their back” on Washington, Trump has once again launched his commercial crusade against the European Union.
The pretext was the antitrust fines imposed by European authorities on American technology giants such as Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon. But the tone is that of an ultimatum: «The United States is not a piggy bank for Europe, nor will we allow it to become one»he declared. Adding: «The European Union will pay a very high price for this illegal and highly unethical conductabout which I have constantly warned Brussels. We plan to impose heavy customs duties on them as soon as possible.” The day before the dinner, Trump had already announced a new wave of tariffs against around 60 countries. The attack on Europe is part of a systematic strategy of delegitimizing historical allies, portrayed as enemies who “rob” America. A vision that transforms a strategic alliance into a relationship of force, in which respect for European rules (from competition to privacy) is equated with hostility to be punished.
The main target, however, were journalists accused of spreading false news, of believing the Epstein report and of being obsessed with him.
“This place has the largest group of people with Trump obsession syndrome,” he said, noting that “93 percent of the news about me is negative.” Fake news, according to him, such as those on the war in Iran: «I only heard fake news. But their navy no longer exists, their air force no longer exists, they no longer have radar. We’re talking to them right now. Tehran must choose between an agreement and much more massive bombings.”
Trump has targeted those he considers his opponents including singers (Bruce Springsteen), media (CNN and NYT) and politicians (former president Joe Biden, Democratic governor of California Gavin Newsom and Democratic senator Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren).just to name a few of its goals.
He then personally attacked CNN’s Kaitlin Collins by inviting her to “smile more” and Jake Tapper, dubbed “Fake Tapper” and directly threatened the information: “When I’m gone, you’ll all be bankrupt.”
Not a simple joke. The Trump administration has already filed lawsuits against numerous newspapers, excluded the Associated Press from the presidential pool and limited the access of unwelcome journalists to the Pentagon. Just that week, the Justice Department was forced by a wave of protests to withdraw subpoenas against New York Times journalists who had conducted an investigation into Air Force One.
Finally he pulled out a red hat with the words Trump 2028 and the half-joking announcement that he wanted to run for a third term, which is prohibited by the Constitution.
“I am pleased to announce my intention to run for president of the United States,” he said. «It should be easy. I have now become very good at running for president. I won twice. Now I’ll do it again.”
The journalists, however, did not stand idly by, over 550 had signed an open letter asking the association to publicly condemn the administration’s attacks on press freedom. At the gala they also aired a film focused on freedom of expression and the president’s duty to “accept even uncomfortable questions». Furthermore, in the images, the president appears insulting and intimidating journalists, while comments from veteran journalists, including the legendary Dan Rather, flow in defense of press freedom. Not only that, Trump also had to shake hands with the evening’s honorees, including the Wall Street Journal team who received recognition for their coverage of Trump’s ties to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
