In-town pool report #16 - POTUS says he'll attend next years WHCD

POTUS joked about whether he should have a say in the WHCA awards and how he renovated the Waldorf Astoria ballroom for cheaper than the Federal Reserve headquarters' renovations.

On the second WHCD:

"Just like my presidency, the second time, it's always better, and

the third time will be better yet."

POTUS reflected on the shooting at the first dinner, including memories of his protective detail standing on tables.

"After hearing the gunshots, many people yelled, 'Get down! Get down!' which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking.

"We do not yield to political violence."

"We settle our differences not with bullets," but "with open and vigorous debate."

Called the shooter "a deranged loser with a gun."

On Secret Service agent Victor Gonzalez:

"Victor did not even want to go to the hospital for a checkup."

On Gonzalez, Metropolitan Police, law enforcement "generally":

"We salute you and we thank you with all our hearts. Thank you very much."

They received a standing ovation.

POTUS reflected on how to change his speech after the shooting.

"This evening we're picking up right where we left off. So let's have a little bit of fun."

Described how his first speech "was going to be a doozy."

"I was so psyched."

"We'll do a little ribbing if you don't mind."

On Jiang:

"We sort of became friendly. In times of stress, on occasion, you become friendly."

"We went through a little bit of a war together. Turned out pretty good. Turned out pretty good because of a lot of good people."

On Heinrich:

"She looks so beautiful, and she can be so nasty. How can that happen?"

"She just got married to a very successful congressman, very good congressman."

Says he would like to have a "couple" more votes from Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) .

Says Fitzpatrick chooses to be independent sometimes.

"We don't like that."

Also says Leavitt can sometimes be "nasty."

"Karoline may have one of the hardest jobs in the White House. She has to deal with all of you all of the time, and you can be very difficult. You can be very, very difficult people. But I'm probably being a little bit oversensitive. Sometimes I really do think that some of you don't like me."

On his new ballroom:

Says it's on schedule -- "We're ahead of schedule. We're right on budget."

Says he doesn't see "any reason" why WHCD can't be hosted there in the future

On RFK:

"I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their... delicious beef tenderloin."

"I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy is right here" and he "personally ran over the cow in his car."

"He is a very different kind of a person. But he has what it takes, and he's smart, and he loves the country."

On a joke about Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY):

"I could mention the governor of Chicago, but I'm going to just say Jerry Nadler, and they're fighting for a big piece of cheesecake, big fat piece of cheesecake. Who the hell wrote that line?"

On CNN's Anderson Cooper:

"He's got a little different persuasion than me in many ways."

On his last WHCD:

"They think that was evening I decided to run for president. It was not. In fact, I loved the evening. I looked at my wife. I said, 'Can you believe it? All these people... all they're doing is talking about me."

"Obama was nice."

"He was respectful. He was good."

"It had nothing to do and nothing to do. I just decided that I wanted to make America great again."

"I thought the press treated me very, very unfairly."a

"They wanted me for ratings."

On coming back next year:

"We're going to be back next year."

On Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA):

"I hate some people. You know, I shouldn't say this. I'm not supposed to say it. I'm supposed to love everybody, but he's a terrible person."

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Naomi Lim

White House Reporter

Washington Examiner