NPR
Trump returns to correspondents' dinner 3 months after shooting
+1087 words added -1410 words removed
Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
− Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump returns to correspondents' dinner 3 months after shooting President Donald Trump returned to the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association dinner Friday night, delivering a rambling, hour-long speech.
+ Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump returns to rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner President Trump used his speech to attack his political opponents, members of the media and even members of his own cabinet.
− Politics Trump returns to correspondents' dinner 3 months after shooting July 25, 20261:04 AM ET By
The Associated Press
President Donald Trump attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24, 2026, in Washington, with with WHCA president Weijia Jiang, right and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
+ Politics 'The show must go on.' Trump makes jabs at rescheduled White House Correspondents' dinner Updated July 25, 20262:09 PM ET Originally published July 25, 20261:04 AM ET By
Ava Pukatch
President Donald Trump attends the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24, 2026, in Washington, with with WHCA president Weijia Jiang, right and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
− Rod Lamkey/AP Photo hide caption
President Donald Trump returned to the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association dinner Friday night, delivering a rambling, hour-long speech that praised some journalists, took potshots at others, made jokes about public figures' weight and intellect, and quipped about a third presidential term.
+ Rod Lamkey/AP Photo hide caption
WASHINGTON — President Trump returned to the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner Friday, three months after a gunman upended the annual event.
− Politics Here's a look inside security at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner He assured the crowd of journalists, though, that he'd scrapped the most biting parts of his remarks.
+ The Picture Show Photos: The aftermath of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting "As I said three months ago, the show must go on," the president said.
− "That was going to be a doozy," Trump said about the speech he'd been prepared to give in April, before a gunman upended the original dinner and forced its postponement.
+ The original April dinner came to an abrupt end just minutes in, after a gunman fired shots in the lobby of the Washington Hilton. Trump and attendees were evacuated from the building.
− "As I said three months ago, the show must go on," the president said to begin his remarks, hailing the decision to reschedule the dinner.
+ The rescheduled event was held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel with a smaller crowd of about 700 and tighter security.
"Our message is this: we are back," outgoing White House Correspondents' Association president and CBS Senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang said.
− He referred to "the attempted mass murder" that could have happened that night in April, but then moved largely to humor — and insults.
+ "We will not be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word."
At Friday's dinner, Trump said he'd be taking a softer tone with the media than he had planned with his remarks in April.
− Trump's return to the correspondents' dinner — and his promise to come back next year as well — represented a notable moment in his relationship with the news media, which he has attacked, sued and taken administrative action against since he began his second term early last year.
+ "That was going to be a doozy," Trump said.
− Among the audience members were reporters he had denounced and barred from events.
+ "I was so psyched. I was going to rip people."
Trump's hour-long speech rambled as he attacked journalists, comedians, Democrats – and even members of his own cabinet.
− Trump's sometimes off-color speech, which lasted just over an hour, was full of vague potshots directed at individuals he doesn't like — from Jane Fonda to Bruce Springsteen to "Barack Hussein Obama." The audience, reacting at first with some friendly laughs, slowly quieted to scattered titters as the insults piled up.
+ "I hope that everyone finally got to enjoy their entire very delicious beef tenderloin, very special beef," said Trump, "and I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy is right here, personally ran over the cow in his car."
He went on to recount how many negative headlines he had in The New York Times and said he's responsible for keeping the press employed.
− President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, Friday, July 24, 2026, in Washington.
+ National Guard troops walk across the street from the Waldorf Astoria hotel where President Donald Trump attended the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2026.
− Rod Lamkey/AP Photo hide caption
Among other targets of Trump's humor: Late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel; Rep.
+ (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Cliff Owen/AP Photo hide caption
"When I'm not around, you're going to be broke," Trump said.
− Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; California Gov.
+ "There's not going to be anybody to report on.
− Gavin Newsom; former New Jersey Gov.
+ Nobody gives a damn about anybody else."
There were jokes about term limits and the 22nd Amendment.
− Chris Christie; and Trump's own speechwriters, whose jokes he sometimes criticized even as he delivered them. Some of the comments flirted with racism.
+ Trump ended his speech by putting on a "Trump 2028" hat, saying it would help the press' ratings.
− The president also spent some time expressing pride in the ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, formerly the Trump International Hotel. "It's great to be back at a place that I know very well, because I built it," Trump said.
+ "I'm pleased to announce my intention to, and this is a somewhat of a scoop, my intention to run for a fourth term as president of the United States," he joked.
− He also made reference to the journalism awards that had been handed out earlier in the evening, most of them for stories challenging him and his administration.
+ There were familiar jabs at his political foes, including former President Biden, Sen.
− "Do I have a say in those awards?" he asked with a grimace.
He made a brief mention of the Iran war and several remarks about the ballroom he is building at the White House.
+ Elizabeth Warren, Sen.
− He also used the occasion to joke about the possibility he would serve a third term — something barred by the U.S.
+ Chuck Schumer, Sen.
− Constitution's 22nd Amendment.
"Just like my presidency, the second time is always better," the president quipped.
+ Adam Schiff, California Gov.
− "And the third time will be better yet."
He added: "I'm only kidding." Then, at the end, he donned a red cap that said "Trump 2028" and delivered the "scoop" that he was running again.
Earlier, Trump had entered the ballroom to polite applause, and was thanked for his support by outgoing White House Correspondents' Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News.
+ Gavin Newsom and former New Jersey Gov.
− After dinner, he then sat through more than an hour of awards presentations.
+ Chris Christie.
− Politics A chaotic White House Correspondents' Dinner, as told by NPR reporters in the room One of the winners, Tyler Pager of the New York Times, was in fact one of the reporters who had been subpoenaed by Trump's Justice Department over his reporting about Trump's Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet.
+ And when some of his jokes "went down with not exactly great laughter," Trump critiqued his speechwriter.
"Who the hell wrote that?" he said after one dig at Sen.
− Those subpoenas were withdrawn on Thursday in a New York courtroom — just one of the arenas where the president, in his second term, has been seeking to control media coverage that displeases him.
+ Warren in which he repeated a jab from years earlier, referencing her Native American heritage.
− The rescheduled dinner was taking place at a smaller venue this time that held only about 700 people.
+ Trump referred to awards given out earlier in the evening, many of which were stories about him and his administration.
The Wall Street Journal won the Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability for its coverage of Trump's ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
− Security was markedly tighter.
+ Trump shook hands with the reporters who won the award.
− Guests entered via a single entrance, through two ID checks and past a detection dog, armed officers and security guards. There was no red carpet and no separate cocktail receptions preceding the dinner.
+ In May, Trump refiled a defamation lawsuit against the Journal's publisher after a judge dismissed his original $10 billion lawsuit over the story.
− "Let's try this again," Jiang quipped, welcoming the crowd.
+ President Donald Trump speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington DC on Friday.
− The White House press corps, she noted, "always have a follow-up." Turning serious, she referred back to the trauma and confusion of the original dinner in April.
"Tonight our message is this: We are back," she said.
+ Rod Lamkey/AP hide caption
CNN's Kaitlan Collins won the award for Excellence in Presidential News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure in broadcast for her coverage of the 2025 Oval Office meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
− "We will not be intimidated.
+ Trump criticized Collins saying she shouldn't have won an award, called her reporting "fake" and said she "never smiles."
"I said Kaitlan, do you ever smile?" Trump said.
− We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word."
Early in his speech, Trump signaled that he had decided to tone it down.
+ "Smile.
− But he kept some zingers.
+ You have a nice position.
− Like this one, to the media-heavy audience: "This is really the largest group of 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' people put together at one time."
Besides the pared-down approach, there was another change at Friday's dinner: two additional awards.
+ You are at CNN Fake News.
− One was presented to Victor Gonzales, the Secret Service agent who was staffing a security checkpoint in April and was struck in his protective vest.
+ You should be a happy person. So smile, Kaitlan, just smile."
Politics Here's a look inside security at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner In a statement released after Trump's speech, CNN Worldwide Chairman and CEO Mark Thompson said the organization stands by its journalists and the integrity and fair mindedness of how they report the news.
− Gonzales "placed himself directly in harm's way and engaged the armed suspect," Jiang said.
+ "Honest, accurate journalism may sometimes irritate politicians, but our fight to report and present that reporting to the public without government interference is fully protected by the U.S.
− "He stayed in the fight and the attacker was stopped."
A second award was presented to the staff of the Washington Hilton hotel, site of the first dinner, hailed for professionalism under pressure.
+ Constitution," Thompson said.
− National Guard troops walk across the street from the Waldorf Astoria hotel where President Donald Trump attended the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, in Washington, Friday, July 24, 2026.
+ Trump also criticized incoming White House Correspondents' Association president Jacqui Heinrich.
"She could be very tough as a reporter, I will tell you," Trump said.
− (AP Photo/Cliff Owen) Cliff Owen/AP Photo hide caption
The dress code this time was a looser "black tie optional," and dinner included grilled peach and burrata salad, lobster and beef Wellington.
+ "She can be nasty.
− The evening, as in April, featured entertainment by mentalist Oz Pearlman — who this time got the chance to do his act..
Jiang and her fellow board members had worked hard to bring about this WHCA dinner 2.0, not wanting to let a violent act — or the image of colleagues hiding under tables — remain the final thought.
+ She looks so beautiful, but she can be so nasty.
− Announcing the rescheduling, she emphasized the dinner's stated purpose: "A celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century."
But it's also clear that some people felt the dinner should not be rescheduled at all.
+ How could that happen?"
The event also honored Secret Service Police Officer Victor Gonzales and the staff of the Washington Hilton with the President's Award for Exceptional Service to the WHCA.
− Many never thought it was much of a good look in the first place, with the sight of journalists in formal wear cozying up to their sources, or the objects of their reporting.
+ Jiang noted Gonzales put himself in harm's way, confronting the gunman as he tried to enter the Washington Hilton ballroom.
− "It undermines the public faith in how the press does its work, and it makes it look like we are pals with the people we cover," Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank, said when the deliberations were taking place.
+ "Even after gunfire struck his protective vest, he stayed in the fight and the attacker was stopped," Jiang said.
− The Picture Show Photos: The aftermath of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting The new dinner came at a time of fast-increasing tension between the media and a president who, in his second term, has tried to exert pressure on media outlets he is unhappy with in a variety of ways.
+ Mentalist Oz Pearlman headlined the event.
− That pressure has ranged from sanctions against members of the White House press corps to regulatory actions through the Federal Communications Commission to outright lawsuits.
+ In one trick, he correctly guessed how much cash Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had in his wallet: $85.
Politics A chaotic White House Correspondents' Dinner, as told by NPR reporters in the room This was the first White House Correspondents' Association dinner Trump has attended while president.
− Those tensions have only escalated since April.
+ He skipped the annual event during his first term in office.
− Trump, though, ended with an attempt to mend fences 00 to a point.
+ "They said, 'Would you do it next year?'" Trump said.
− "I have a lot of respect for your profession," he told the assembled journalists.
+ "I said I will be back next year.
− He also touted his own success, and declared: "When I'm not around, you're all gonna be broke."
And he concluded about the evening: "I didn't know what to expect.
+ If you get really, really nasty, maybe not.
− It's far worse than I originally thought."
Sponsor Message
Become an NPR sponsor
+ But we are going to be back next year."
Sponsor Message
Become an NPR sponsor