Trump mixes barbs and 2028 joke at rescheduled correspondents dinner

The rescheduled White House Correspondents Association dinner tested whether an annual ritual of press-presidency engagement could survive an April shooting and months of lawsuits and access disputes. Three months after a gunman fired outside the original ballroom, President Donald Trump addressed roughly 700 guests at the Waldorf Astoria on July 24, 2026, in a speech that began with references to the attack and ended with familiar campaign-style material.

The evening opened with honors for Secret Service officer Victor Gonzales, who stopped the April shooter, and for Washington Hilton staff who assisted guests. Outgoing WHCA president Weijia Jiang of CBS News told the room the event would not yield to violence. Trump entered to polite applause and received thanks from ABC correspondent Jonathan Karl for attending. He responded by saying he held "tremendous respect" for journalists in the room while adding that some coverage felt unfair.

The hour-long address shifted after those opening lines. Trump mocked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the evening's beef tenderloin, repeated nicknames for critics including Adam Schiff and Chris Christie, and described the audience as the largest gathering of "Trump Derangement Syndrome" people. He also revived a line about a third term, placed a red "Trump 2028" cap on his head, and declared his intention to run again before adding, "I'm only kidding." Audience reaction began with scattered laughs and later turned to silence or phones, according to multiple accounts.

Trump mentioned the Iran situation and repeated his claim of providing unprecedented press access through direct phone calls. He criticized his own speechwriters when lines fell flat. The program closed with mentalist Oz Pearlman performing for the second time after the April postponement. The dinner raised funds for journalism scholarships and marked Trump's first appearance at the event as president; he had skipped it during his first term.

The 22nd Amendment bars a third term. The April event had been canceled after Cole Allen, who has pleaded not guilty to attempted assassination charges, fired a shotgun at a checkpoint. The rescheduled dinner used tighter security at a smaller venue. The day before the dinner, the Justice Department withdrew subpoenas it had issued to New York Times reporters over coverage of a Qatari-gifted aircraft.