“Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than ‘The Donald,’” Obama said to laughter and applause. “And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?”
Obama went on to ridicule Trump’s “credentials and breadth of experience” by noting his appearance with entertainers Lil Jon, Meatloaf, and Gary Busey on Celebrity Apprentice.
“Say what you will about Mr. Trump, he certainly would bring some change to the White House,” Obama continued. Screens panned to the “Trump White House Resort and Casino,” a jab that undoubtedly looks prescient to Trump’s many detractors.
Trump sat stonefaced. Obama reprised the gag during his final White House Correspondents Dinner speech in 2016, noting Trump’s absence. “Is this dinner too tacky for T’he Donald?’” Obama asked. “What could he possibly be doing instead? Is he at home, eating a Trump Steak? Tweeting out insults to Angela Merkel? What’s he doing?”
But by that second dinner, Obama had to acknowledge that Trump was the Republican presidential frontrunner. “The Republican establishment is incredulous that he is their most likely nominee — incredulous, shocking,” setting up a joke about Trump’s foreign policy experience consisting of judging international beauty pageants.
Less than a month before Trump won in 2016, Obama participated in the “Mean Tweets” segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Obama read one from Trump saying, “Obama will go down as the worst President in history on many topics but especially foreign policy.”
“Well @realDonaldTrump,” Obama shot back, “at least I will go down as a president.” He then dropped his smartphone like it was a mic.
Obama’s staff would look less amused a few weeks later, as their boss hosted President-elect Trump at the White House.
Trump would have the last laugh. He succeeded Obama as president. A decade after Obama’s swansong in front of D.C. media elites, Trump is back in the White House again.
The conventional wisdom is that Obama baited Trump into running for president at that 2011 dinner. That’s probably an oversimplification. Trump gave his first speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, then an important Republican presidential cattle call, earlier that year.
But Trump’s relationship with the reporters who cover him is even more complex and fraught than his dynamic with Obama. Just this past week, he mocked a journalist in the Oval Office for asking him about the duration of the Iran war. When answering questions, he will insult individual reporters or the media outlets that employ them.
Last year, Trump called NBC News’s Peter Alexander a “bad reporter” who wasn’t “smart enough.” Five years earlier, in his first term, Trump told Alexander he was a “terrible reporter.” When Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey asked a follow-up question aboard Air Force One last year, Trump shushed her by saying, “Quiet, piggy.” The White House faulted Lucey for interrupting her press colleagues.
Trump has derided much of the coverage of his presidency and campaigns as “fake news.” But just as he did when he was a real estate developer and reality TV star, Trump has also made masterful use of the media to advance his political interests. His ability to dominate a news cycle is unrivaled by his opponents.
Similarly, many reporters who have borne Trump’s insults have become stars. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins was barred from covering an event during Trump’s first term after shouting a question. He called her a “nasty person” during a 2023 town hall as he was trying to return to the Oval Office. He then blasted her as “stupid and nasty” late last year and complained in February that she never smiles. During this abuse, Collins rose to become the network’s chief White House correspondent and anchor a prime-time show.
Collins’s former CNN colleague, Jim Acosta, was arguably never bigger in his career than when he became one of Trump’s main antagonists during the first term. Acosta participated in the storied tradition of Sam Donaldson under Ronald Reagan, Helen Thomas under George W. Bush, and later Peter Doocy under Joe Biden.
Many of Trump’s personal attacks on reporters get airtime in the first place because he is so available to them, frequently answering their questions directly and even taking their telephone calls.
“I know all of you have the president’s phone number personally, so I have no doubt that you won’t have a shortage of statements and news from this building while I’m gone,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt quipped Friday during what was expected to be her last press gaggle before going on maternity leave.
Collectively, the media has often found Trump to be good for ratings and web traffic. Trump garners intense interest, both from his loyal supporters who believe he is making America great again and his ardent foes who think he is destroying democracy and becoming a king. Either would be a major story.
At the same time, journalists often feel a certain amount of guilt about their industry’s role in Trump’s rise. More than 250 of them demanded their colleagues “forcefully protest” Trump at the dinner. Legacy media leaders who have tried to be perceived as covering Trump more fairly, like editor Bari Weiss and anchor Tony Dokoupil of CBS News, are dismissed by peers as “MAGA-coded.”
While many of these critics are conventional media liberals, Trump’s lawsuits against news organizations, loose talk about snatching broadcasting licenses, and aggressive approach to the Federal Communications Commission all raise legitimate First Amendment concerns.
Obama also made fun of the press’s interest in Trump during his last WHCA dinner talk.
VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING BALLOT MEASURE COULD STILL BE STRUCK DOWN AFTER VOTING, EXPERTS SAY
“Because I think we can all agree that from the start, he’s gotten the appropriate amount of coverage, befitting the seriousness of his candidacy,” Obama said.
Trump has now been a serious force in national politics for more than a decade. He is getting ready to break bread with members of a profession who still cannot figure out how best to cover him appropriately.
