Trump hijacks White House Correspondents’ Dinner redo with antigay jabs, anti-trans mockery & lies

President Donald Trump used the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Friday night to target two prominent gay journalists, mock transgender actress Dylan Mulvaney and deliver a sprawling rally-style address before hundreds of members of the press.

Trump made an apparent antigay insinuation about CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, called independent journalist Don Lemon “the dumbest man on television” and offered a strange comparison between CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins and Mulvaney.

The speech moved from TikTok views to the UFC fight held on the White House South Lawn, from an attack on Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s weight to insults aimed at journalists and Democratic politicians. Trump complained about lawsuits, mocked Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and spoke reverentially about the enormous ballroom he is constructing at the White House.

At one point, the president discussed plans for what he described as a “drone port” atop the White House.

The result was not so much a correspondents’ dinner routine as a Trump rally transported into a hotel ballroom, complete with the president’s familiar mixture of celebrity gossip, political grievances, personal attacks and praise for his own construction projects. There was little laughter in the room as the speech became harsher and more overtly political.

Trump had warned at the beginning of his remarks that he had abandoned much of his prepared material and would instead deliver “a mix of things.”

The setting was appropriately unusual. The dinner was held at the Waldorf Astoria Washington, blocks from the White House, in the Pennsylvania Avenue property that operated as the Trump International Hotel until the Trump Organization sold its lease rights in 2022.

A jab at Anderson Cooper & Don Lemon

Trump’s attacks on LGBTQ+ figures began during a story about Cooper and MS NOW host Lawrence O’Donnell.

“I like Anderson actually because he’s covered me well for many years, and he went bad as soon as I went for politics,” Trump said. “But for years he loved the interview. I did so many interviews with him, and he was great, but he’s got a little different persuasion than me in many ways actually.”

Trump did not explain what he meant by “different persuasion,” but the remark appeared to allude to Cooper’s sexual orientation.

Cooper publicly came out as gay in 2012. He has spoken about raising his two sons and has long been among the most visible gay journalists on American television. Trump then turned to Lemon, another prominent gay journalist and former CNN anchor.

“We had a contest for who had the lowest ratings and the lowest IQ on television,” Trump said. “And that was actually Don Lemon, I think.”

Trump repeated an insult he has used against Lemon for years.

“When I said that he’s the dumbest man on television, I said, when you say some things, you never make a comeback,” Trump said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, gee, hey Don, let’s have dinner some night.’”

Lemon left CNN in 2023 and now works as an independent journalist. He is on the cover of the July/August print issue of The Advocate.

Kaitlan Collins and Dylan Mulvaney

Trump’s attention then shifted to Collins, who received an award during the dinner.

“You should be a happy person,” Trump told her. “So smile, Kaitlan, just smile.”

The president followed the gendered admonition with one of the speech’s more bewildering comparisons.

“I thought Kaitlan had really made it big with a major new sponsorship, but then I informed her that it wasn’t her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney,” Trump said.

Collins and Mulvaney do not closely resemble one another. Trump did not explain the comparison before launching into a distorted account of Mulvaney’s 2023 promotional partnership with Bud Light.

“Dylan Mulvaney cost Bud Light $35 billion in market cap,” Trump said.

“I wouldn’t want to hire Dylan anytime soon,” he continued. “Think of it, they hired Dylan Mulvaney and their market cap has gone down by $35 billion.”

Trump also called the partnership “the worst commercial ever made.”

There was no conventional Bud Light commercial starring Mulvaney. The company sent her a personalized commemorative can bearing her image, which appeared in a sponsored social media post marking the first anniversary of her publicly sharing her transition. The can was not offered for sale.

The promotion nevertheless became the center of a sustained conservative backlash. Republican politicians and right-wing personalities called for a boycott, and musician Kid Rock posted a video of himself firing a rifle at cases of Bud Light. The beer’s sales fell sharply, and it temporarily lost its position as the country’s top-selling beer.

Mulvaney later criticized Bud Light for failing to defend her as she faced threats, harassment and months of anti-transgender abuse.

From TikTok to a rooftop drone port

Trump continued moving from subject to subject with little transition.

He boasted about the number of views his appearances had drawn on TikTok and revisited the UFC event staged on the White House South Lawn. He mocked Pritzker’s weight and went after Democratic politicians, including Talarico.

Trump also attacked Bette Midler and Jane Fonda, said Bruce Springsteen “looks like hell” and complained that the singer used his concerts to discuss politics.

“The tour has been renamed ‘Bored in the USA,’” Trump said.

He mocked former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, revisited television ratings, and repeatedly returned to people he believed had treated him unfairly.

Trump also complained about the lawsuits he has faced and praised the White House ballroom project he has promoted as a monument to both grandeur and security. The president has used the gunfire at the original April dinner to argue that the White House should have its own permanent venue for large events.

He described thick glass and other security features before discussing a proposed rooftop area for drones, which he called a drone port.

A dinner held twice

Friday’s event was a smaller and more heavily secured repeat of the traditional spring dinner at the Washington Hilton.

The April 25 gathering ended in chaos after an armed man breached a security checkpoint and opened fire. Secret Service agents evacuated Trump, first lady Melania Trump and senior administration officials. Secret Service officer Victor Gonzales was struck in his protective vest while confronting the attacker.

The rescheduled dinner honored Gonzales and members of the Washington Hilton staff. It was attended by about 700 guests, compared with the roughly 2,600 people who typically attend the larger event, the Associated Press reports.

The gathering was intended to celebrate journalism, award scholarships and affirm the importance of a free press after an act of political violence. It also took place amid deep concern about Trump’s treatment of news organizations, including lawsuits, restrictions on access and Justice Department attempts to obtain journalists’ records.

Trump, who boycotted the dinner throughout his first term, recalled attending the 2011 event at which President Barack Obama mocked him while he sat in the audience.

Trump denied the enduring theory that Obama’s jokes inspired him to run for president.

“In fact, I loved the evening,” he said. “I looked at my wife. I said, ‘Can you believe all these people? That’s all they’re doing is talking about me. I love this dinner.’”