Trump says China is helping on North Korea

President slams press at rally miles away from D.C.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Saturday marked his 100th day in office with a rally in Pennsylvania, mocking the simultaneously scheduled White House correspondents dinner that he had declined to attend.

“As you may know, there’s another big gathering taking place tonight in Washington, D.C., did you hear about it?” Trump asked the crowd in the Harrisburg arena. “A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nation’s capital right now. They are gathered together for the White House Correspondents Dinner without the president. And I could not possibly be more thrilled than to be more than 100 miles away from Washington’s swamp, spending my evening with all of you and with a much much larger crowd and much better people, right?”

Continuing his vitriol for the press, he called staffers at the “failing” New York Times “incompetent, dishonest people” and said the media in general deserves a “failing” grade.

Earlier Saturday in his weekly radio and internet address, he said he had brought “profound change” to Washington and that “my only allegiance is to you, our wonderful citizens.”

He also made news in an interview with CBS’ “Face the Nation,” set to air this morning, saying he believes Chinese President Xi Jinping has been putting pressure on North Korea as it pursues its missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Trump said he won’t be happy if North Korea conducts a nuclear test and that he believes Xi won’t be happy, either.

Asked if that means military action, Trump responded: “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see.”

Early Saturday, a North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters.

North Korea didn’t immediately comment on the launch, though its state media on Saturday reiterated the country’s goal of being able to strike the continental U.S.

Trump’s 100th day events were set in politically important Pennsylvania, which he won with 48 percent of the vote. It was the first time the state had voted for a Republican presidential candidate since George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Before his rally, he visited a shovel factory, where he signed an executive order directing the Commerce Department and the U.S. trade representative to conduct a study of U.S. trade agreements. The goal is to determine whether America is being treated fairly by its trading partners and the 164-nation World Trade Organization.

The AMES Companies in Pennsylvania’s Cumberland County has manufactured shovels since 1774.

“We are not going to let other countries take advantage of us anymore,” Trump told the audience at the rally, saying from now on, the policy will be “America first.”

The economy, so far, has been Trump’s ally. Polls show that Americans feel slightly better about his job performance on that subject than his job performance overall.