Americanswers… on 5 Live! Is Donald Trump serious about running for a third term?

**Sarah Smith** (0:00)
I had dinner with the president this weekend on Friday night. I sat down with about 700 other people admittedly at the White House Correspondents' Dinner Take Two, because back in April, the original event was shut down by an assassination attempt, and Donald Trump was very eager that the dinner happen again, just to show that we will not be derailed by political violence. But nonetheless, he took various swipes, made several personal attacks on journalists who were in the room, and then told us that we were getting a scoop, an exclusive, when he said that he's planning to run for president again for a third time.
Why is he saying that now? What does he get out of it? And why is he also picking a fight with the Smithsonian Institute, telling them that some of their exhibitions contain inaccurate information and they need to let the public know that? So combative mood Donald Trump is in this week. Good time for the whole Americast team to get back together and to answer your questions on 5 Live with Matt Chorley. Welcome to Americanswers.

**Marianna Spring** (1:04)
Americast from BBC News.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:06)
You hear that sound? Oh, I think when I hear that sound, it reminds me of money.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:11)
We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it. This is a big cover-up and this administration is engaged in it.

**Justin Webb** (1:19)
This guy has Trump's arrangement syndrome.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:21)
I have four words for you.

**Matt Chorley** (1:30)
We have got an awful lot to get through, so let's get started with a voice note from Tony.

**SPEAKER_8** (1:35)
There seem to be a show of solidarity when the press moved out of the Pentagon when restrictions were imposed. I'm just wondering whether solidarity is for the White House correspondents when, well, in particular one of them is singled out for attack and a woman, even when they're hosting as at the dinner last week.
Is news from the White House just too high a risk to lose out on?

**Matt Chorley** (1:56)
So he did his best to cross quite a lot of lines at Donald Trump, at Friday's White House Correspondents Dinner, where the president gave a speech where he, among other things, took quite a lot of swipes at the press.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:07)
But I am delighted to be here at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Amazing people, a lot of people that I like, some I don't like at all.
But I respect most of them. I must say that you do a great job, amazing job, and it's an honor.
As I said three months ago, the show must go on. But I want to personally congratulate CNN's Caitlin Collins on receiving her award. It was all about me. It's a fake, she shouldn't get the award. It was a fake, but I didn't mind. I said, Caitlin, congratulations. I said, Caitlin, do you have a smile? Smile. You have a nice position. You're at CNN Fake News. You should be a happy person. But you people have no idea how lucky you are. When I'm gone, you're all going to be broke. Your business model is going to be finished. No, it's true. When I'm not around, you're going to be broke. There's not going to be anybody to report on. Nobody gives a damn about anybody else.

**Matt Chorley** (3:09)
Sarah, take us through this event.

**Sarah Smith** (3:12)
Right. So I was there. I had the pleasure of sitting through that speech that lasted for more than an hour.
It was full of swipes like that at the media. Now, the reason he was complaining about the handling of prizes he said being handed to people who'd made up fake stories was because just before he took to his feet, a number of awards were handed out to journalists who had written stories he really, really didn't like. For instance, the story that the Wall Street Journal had about the birthday card he sent to Jeffrey Epstein, that he at one point was suing the Wall Street Journal for $10 billion for. Well, the reporter who wrote that got given an award. And it clearly really, really got on his go as he stood up to make this speech criticizing the press. But it was bizarre as well, I have to say, Matt. It's normal for the president to have lots and lots of jokes written for them that they will turn up at the White House correspondence dinner and perform. I think usually they've read the script once or twice before and worked out where the punch lines are. It was unbelievably obvious that Donald Trump was keying these lines for the first time as they were going past on the auto queue. So it was a series of not terribly well written jokes that maybe would have got a laugh, except they were so badly delivered.