Live

Trump indicted

Live

Russia's war in Ukraine

The White House correspondents' dinner: Highlights

By Meg Wagner

Updated 11:08 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

18 Posts

Sort by

11:03 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

This is who Michelle Wolf called out in her roast

President Trump wasn't the only target tonight in Michelle Wolf's set at the dinner. She threw jokes — some of them X-rated — at everyone from Hillary Clinton to Anne Coulter:

Vice President Mike Pence
Ivanka Trump
Eric Trump
Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders
Former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus
Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
The Democrats
Hillary Clinton
The late Sen. Ted Kennedy
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Multiple CNN anchors and correspondents
Fox News
Former Fox host Bill O'Reilly
MSNBC and Rachel Maddow
Conservative pundit Anne Coulter

11:02 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

Michelle Wolf roasts Sarah Sanders as she sat just feet away

There wasn't a single target in the room Michelle Wolf didn't hit during her roast tonight, and that included press secretary Sarah Sanders.

"We are graced with Sarah's presence tonight. I have to say I'm a little star struck. I love you as aunt Lydia in 'The Handmaid's Tale,'" Wolf said.

"I actually really like Sarah. I think she's very resourceful. But she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye," she said.

Sanders sat at the head table tonight, just a few feet away from the podium.

Here's Wolf's roast and Sanders' reaction:

10:46 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

Comedian says she's found a new way to roast Trump: His net worth

Michelle Wolf is roasting President Trump about his wealth — or maybe his lack thereof.

"Mr. President, I don't think you're very rich. Like, you might be rich in Idaho, but in New York, you're doing fine."

She went on with a series of "Trump's so broke" jokes. Watch them all in the clip below:

10:32 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

"It's 2018, and I'm a woman so you can not shut me up. Unless..."

Michelle Wolf, this year's host of the correspondents' dinner and a regular on "The Daily Show," started her set with a joke about President Trump's lawyer and the money he paid. to a porn star who allegedly had a sexual encounter with the President before his time in office.

"It's 2018, and I'm a woman so you can not shut me up. Unless you have Michael Cohen wire me $130,000," she said.

Watch more:

10:14 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

CNN and other news organization won awards tonight

CNN Evan Perez, Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper and Carl Bernstein won the Merriman Smith Award for broadcast for their reporting on the dossier.

This what the judges had to say the award, according to the White House Correspondents' Association.

These four journalists and a number of other CNN reporters broke the story that the intelligence community had briefed President Barack Obama and then-President elect Donald Trump that Russia had compromising information about Trump. The CNN team later reported that then-FBI Director James Comey personally briefed Trump about the dossier. Thanks to this CNN investigation, "the dossier" is now part of the lexicon. The depth of reporting demonstrated in these remarkable and important pieces, and the constant updates as new information continued to be uncovered showed breaking news reporting at its best.

Awards winners also include New York Times' Maggie Haberman for her reporting on Trump, Politico's Josh Dawsey for his reporting on former White House press secretary Sean Spicer's resignation, and Reuters' Jason Szep, Peter Eisler, Tim Reid, Lisa Girion, Grant Smith and team for their 18-month long investigative piece on taser deaths.

10:21 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

Paul Ryan: "Cheers to the First Amendment"

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who is retiring after this year, isn't at tonight's White House correspondents' dinner, but he did send along a video message to the scholarship winners at the event and other future journalists.

The video started with light-hearted jokes, and ended with a toast (and a Miller Lite).

"My message to the next generation of reporters is it's really simple: Know that what you do matters. There's so much noise out there, but our republic does not work without an informed electorate. Pay attention to the policy, not just the personalities. Look at the human impact, not just the horse race. And above all, challenge yourself to challenge us, those of us in to public office. Because what you do, it really matters. It provides transparency and accountability. Done right, journalism cannot just inform but empower citizens. Of course we don't always agree on what's right and what's fair, but that push and pull, that makes us both better. It creates a higher standard. It's part of the genius of this country. And it will endure through any turbulent time. So tonight, I say cheers to the First Amendment and again offer my congratulations, scholarship winners.

10:04 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

Presidents attending this dinner is a tradition that "will withstand the currents of time"

President Trump skipped this year's White House correspondents' dinner. (He did last year, too.)

Margaret Talev, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, noted that White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is sitting at the head table to represent the Trump administration.

"US presidents have attended this dinner nearly every year since Calvin Coolidge's days. And that's a tradition we believe will withstand the currents of time," she said.

10:10 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

"We reject efforts by anyone, especially our elected leaders, to paint journalism as un-American," WHCA chief says

Margaret Talev, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, opened the dinner with an address about the core of journalism.

"Real news is sometimes happy, heart-warming, or heart-breaking and critical or makes you angry. But we reject efforts — be it anyone, especially our elected officials — to undermine journalism as un-American," Talev said.

9:48 p.m. ET, April 28, 2018

Sean Spicer poses with White House press staff at the dinner

Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer just shared a photo of members of President Trump's press team at tonight's correspondents' dinner.

He's standing next to current press secretary Sarah Sanders. Principal Deputy press secretary Raj Shaw is on the far right.

This is a big difference from last year. No Trump administration staffers attended the 2017 dinner.