DINNER MENU WOULD CONSIST MAINLY OF PRISON FOOD

 IN HALF THE WORLD'S CAPITALS THE DINNER MENU 
WOULD CONSIST MAINLY OF PRISON FOOD

Chidanand Rajghatta writes in Sunday Times of The Times of India of 26 July 2026:

"Only in America could the First amendment receive an acknowledgement from one of its most trenchant litigants. Try staging that in half the world's capitals and the dinner menu would consist mainly of prison food."

Only in USA: Amid the roast, Trump toasts free speech

The White House Correspondent's Association's rescheduled annual dinner produced one of those deliciously improbable scenes that remind the world why American democracy is equal parts constitutional republic and absurdist theatre. There sat President Donald Trump, who has spent years suing, skewering, ridiculing and generally treating journalists the way a cobra views a mongoose, applauding Wall Street Journal reporters as they collected an award for investigating ....Donald Trump.  

As CNN's Wolf Blitzer, introducing the award, reminded the audience, in front of the President, that the reporting on the President had  triggered lawsuits, retaliation and personal consequences for the reporters, the President threw up his hands and essayed a wry smile.

Then came the piece de resistance: Trump smiling, rising, shaking hands with the very journalists whose work he insists is false and whose newspaper he is still batting in court. He ribbed reporters about their coverage. He torched through an hour of familiar terrain, firing jibes and jeers at journalists. Though he had promised he had toned down his original speech, the listeners quickly discovered that his definition of restraint resembled a chainsaw fitted with a muffler.

United States First Amendment (1791)

The First Amendment usually refers to the historic part of the U.S. Constitution that protects freedom of speech, religion, and the press.

Protects five key basic rights: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petitioning the government.
Stops the government from making laws that favor one religion or stop people from practicing their faith.
Applies to public and government actions, not private businesses or private employers.