Trump spares no one at WHCA dinner, taking aim at Dems, press and his own Cabinet

President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone Friday at the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner, scrapping the combative speech he had prepared before an assassination attempt upended the annual event in April. The rewrite emphasized unity and gratitude, though the president still couldn't resist slipping in a few familiar jabs at the press while insisting: 'The show must go on.' Trump returned to the stage just months after gunfire abruptly ended the organization's annual banquet. 'The speech that I had ready just a short while. Oh, that was going to be a doozy. I was so psyched. I was going to rip people. And I don't know, just something changed it — really for the better. But I just wouldn't want to do that,' Trump said to a room full of journalists and government officials. 'But we'll do a little ripping, if you don't mind. But it is true. I said, how do we handle this is going to be a different kind of evening. And it is. And in many ways it's a more beautiful evening, actually,' he added. Trump teed up his typical walk-out song — Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless the U.S.A.' — and quickly jumped into joking about seeking a third term before striking a more serious chord as he thanked the Secret Service. He delivered a speech that went longer than expected, talking for an hour and four minutes. 'Just like my presidency, the second time is always better. It's always better, and the third time will be better yet. I'm only kidding,' Trump said to some chuckles throughout the room. He made various jokes aimed at not just Democrats but his own cabinet members. 'I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their entire very delicious beef tenderloins, very special beef. And I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy, who's right here personally, ran over the cow and his car,' said Trump. 'I'm going to send him a beautiful Palestinian outfit tomorrow so he can greet Bibi Netanyahu when he comes to town next week,' joked Trump. 'The attempted mass murder at the Washington Hilton, that's what it could have been, was an assault on our democracy itself,' Trump said. He also vowed to attend next year's WHCA dinner. 'They said, 'Would you do it next year?' I said, 'I will be back next year,' Trump said. 'Now, if you get really, really nasty, maybe not. I don't know. But we're going to be back next year.' In his closing remarks, Trump said he has a 'scoop' for the press announcing he is running for the fourth time. He put on a red 'TRUMP 2028' hat.