Donald Trump increased the frontal attacks Friday evening for his return to the big press gala in Washington, reorganized under reinforced security three months after an assassination attempt which caused his evacuation in chaos.
In his usual style, the American president gave the speech that he was unable to deliver during the April 25 party, interrupted when a shootout broke out between federal agents and an armed man who tried to enter the room.
Cole Allen, a 31-year-old California man, is charged with four counts, including attempted assassination of the President of the United States and assault of a federal agent with a deadly weapon. He pleaded not guilty.
“This place is truly the largest group of people with anti-Trump delirium syndrome ever assembled,” said Donald Trump, who had nevertheless started his speech in a conciliatory tone.
Attacking journalists and then his Democratic rivals, he once again mentioned a third term, even though it is prohibited by the American Constitution, before ensuring that he was only “joking”.
That didn’t stop him from wearing a “Trump 2028” cap, or even from sharing his equally unconstitutional “intent to run for a fourth term as president of the United States.”
He concluded his hour-long speech by saying his “immense respect” for the journalists present. Before adding: “When I’m gone, you’ll all be broke.”
Tighter dinner
Donald Trump announced at the beginning of June that he had accepted a new invitation to the dinner, which traditionally brings together each year the elite of politics and the media from the American capital in tuxedos and long dresses.
He welcomed it as “very good news, because we cannot let crazy people change our way of life”.
Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) which is organizing the dinner, stressed for her part that the rescheduling had been decided so as not to let “an act of violence have the last word.”
On Friday, Donald Trump said he was thinking of returning next year.
The surrounding streets were blocked a few hours before his speech, but security inside the building was not particularly strict, noted an AFP journalist on site.
The venue of the feasts has changed, moving from the Washington Hilton to the Waldorf Astoria, a former hotel in the Trump galaxy. The dinner was also intended to be much smaller and “more intimate”, according to the organizers.
“Outstanding” threats
Mr. Trump offered rare praise to the press in the wake of the April shooting and saw a “sign of strength and courage” in the WHCA’s decision to reschedule the dinner. But he suggested that he could resume his recurring criticism on Friday evening.
The April dinner was the first in which Donald Trump attended, his two terms as president combined, reflecting his contempt for the media which he described as “enemies of the people”.
The rest of the evening kept the same program as its predecessor, with a performance by mentalist Oz Pearlman. However, there was also a tribute to the injured Secret Service agent who helped neutralize Cole Allen and the Hilton staff.
The head of the Secret Service, Sean Curran, monitored the arrival of the guests on Friday. He assured Wednesday that the service was ready for the event and rejected the criticism received since the April incident.
“The device worked, the system worked,” he told journalists, arguing that a cordon had prevented the alleged assailant from reaching the large room where the dinner was being held.
But, he warned, “the level and nature of the threat” against America’s top officials “is greater than anything I have ever seen.” »
