Only in America: Amid the roast, Trump toasts free speech
President Donald Trump attended the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, where he applauded journalists who had previously investigated him. The event highlighted the paradoxical relationship between the administration and the press in the United States.
Why it matters
It underscores the unique and often contentious role of the First Amendment and the press in American political theater.
TOI correspondent from Washington: It was as though a bull had been invited to hand out prizes at a china convention. The White House Correspondents' Association's rescheduled annual dinner on Friday night produced one of those deliciously improbable scenes that remind the world why American democracy is equal parts constitutional republic and absurdist theatre. There sat President Donald Trump, who has spent years suing, skewering, ridiculing and generally treating journalists the way a cobra views a mongoose, applauding Wall Street Journal reporters as they collected an award for investigating... Donald Trump.The Journal team received the WHCA's Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability for reporting on Trump's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. CNN's Wolf Blitzer, introducing the award, reminded the audience – in front of the President – that the reporting had triggered lawsuits, retaliation and personal consequences for reporters.
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