“As I said three months ago,” he began, “the show must go on.”

And with that, President Donald Trump kicked off his remarks at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “Just like my presidency,” Trump continued, “the second time is always better. It’s always better. And the third time will be better yet.”

“I’m only kidding,” he added, for those who don’t know a troll job when they hear it.

The president was clearly in his element, mixing humorous jabs with brutal truths for more than an hour. “But tonight,” he said, “we come back to answer that heinous attack with unwavering resolve and every one of us here this evening to show that in America, we do not yield to political violence. … So in this country, we believe in freedom of speech. We settle our differences not with bullets but with open and vigorous debate, and no deranged loser with a gun will ever change that.”

From Trump’s lips to his would-be assassins’ ears.

Trump dialed back the viciousness a bit from his initially planned address, but he still took plenty of shots at the media and his enemies on the Trump-deranged Left. “Karoline may have one of the hardest jobs in the White House,” he said, referring to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “She has to deal with all of you, all of the time. … But I’m probably being a little bit oversensitive. Sometimes I really do think that some of you don’t like me.”

“But this place,” he said, “is the, really the largest group of Trump Derangement Syndrome people ever put together at one time, I suspect.”

Trump mixed presidential security with a topic he knows a little something about — building things. He talked not only about the bulletproof White House ballroom but also about the drone port on the building’s roof and the subterranean shelter built numerous stories beneath it. He also noted, rightly, that these projects will benefit future presidents of both parties.

Trump then remarked that he hoped everyone had enjoyed their beef tenderloin main course. “And I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy, who’s right here, personally ran over the cow in his car, and he cut it up, and he brought it here for you to eat tonight. So it’s very fresh.” Trump then said he drew the line at Kennedy’s raccoon roadkill appetizer.

“We love Bobby. I tell ya, he’s a piece of work. … And he’s fun, but he’s a very different kind of a person. … But he has what it takes, and he’s smart. And he loves the country, and he wants people to be made to feel good. … and he’s doing a fantastic job.”

Trump’s speech went longer than expected — an hour and four minutes — but Trump’s speeches always go longer than expected because he’s a natural storyteller, and because he never adheres tightly to a script. Which is downright refreshing, given that his predecessor had to be told, during those vanishingly rare events in which he fielded questions from the press, which specific correspondents from which specific news organizations to call on for which specific questions to be asked.

For example, while he was riffing on UFC fight night at the White House, he segued into a dig at the Autopen President. “Just remember,” he said, “before I came along, if you wanted to see someone lose consciousness on the South Lawn of the White House, all you had to do was ask Joe Biden a question.”

Trump then shifted to the July Fourth fireworks, which were delayed and briefly canceled due to rain and lightning, sending 450,000 disappointed people home. When the event’s organizers suggested to Trump that the fireworks be postponed for “a couple of weeks,” Trump said, much as he did after the attempted assassination at the original White House Correspondents’ Dinner, “You can’t do it in a couple of weeks. This is the 250th birthday. … I’ll speak if I have to speak at 3 o'clock in the morning. … Call ‘em all back.”

“It’s a great term,” he said, “it’s true in life. The show has to go on. The show must go on.” Ultimately, the show did go on, albeit some four hours later than originally scheduled. And because the show went on, some 150,000 patriotic Americans were treated to a one-of-a-kind fireworks show — all because their president wouldn’t take “No” for an answer.

Trump took plenty of swings — at AOC, Adam Schiff, Rosie O'Donnell, and Bruce “Bored in the USA” Springsteen.

But he saved some of his best for California’s oleaginous governor. “Gavin Newsom,” he said, “has come out and said he will not be running for president because nobody can say what he said about himself and survive. … Newsom was in big trouble when he openly admitted that Kamala was smarter than him. … If Kamala is smarter than someone, you don’t want that person to be president of the United States of America.”

Toward the end, Trump told another of those hard truths to the assembled media. “You people have no idea how lucky you are. When I’m gone, you’re all gonna be broke. Your business model is gonna be finished. … Nobody gives a damn about anybody else.”

Which is true. The mainstream media thrives on Trump hatred, and when he exits the stage, nothing else emanating from Washington, DC, will seem nearly so rich, nearly so interesting. So let’s enjoy Donald Trump while we’ve got him.