Just what was said: “Having press freedom comes with a tremendous responsibility,” then-president of the White House Correspondents’ Association Weijia Jiang said at the WHCA Dinner on July 24 as she introduced U.S. President Donald Trump. The annual dinner had been cut short three months earlier after a gunman attacked the gathering in an alleged attempt to assassinate Trump.

Jiang continued:

We can’t demand accountability without practicing it. Criticism of the media can be unfair. It can also be legitimate. We get a lot right, but sometimes we get things wrong. We mistake proximity to power for understanding it. And at times we get trapped in our own bubbles. 

There is a difference though, an existential difference between criticizing the press and trying to undermine it. One is healthy and it makes all of us better. The other is exactly what the founders hoped to prevent. 

Around the world, press freedom is not guaranteed. In many countries, reporters who criticize the government are detained without trial. Their stories erased. In the worst cases, they never make it home. 

Tonight, we think about all of them and we think about the protections that set us apart as a nation. Just 20 days ago, America turned 250 years old. The First Amendment is a big part of how she made it this far, and it falls on all of us to make sure it carries her through to the next 250 and beyond.

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Trump then went on to speak for more than an hour.

He said: “This evening, it’s really all about the fake news media and your handling of prizes and writing and producing and performing made up stories.” 

He also said: “I have tremendous respect for the people in this room … And I have a lot of respect for your profession. Your profession’s amazing.” 

Last word to Jiang, who thanked Trump for attending the dinner. “People asked me for several months, how long is he going to speak? And I said, ‘You’re White House correspondents. So you should know.’”

In related news: For 18 months, the Poynter Institute documented more than 100 federal actions affecting journalists and access to the news through its Press Freedom Watch project.