President Donald Trump attacked members of the press and joked about running for a fourth term during a rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24, 2026, delivering an hour-long speech filled with barbs at journalists and political rivals at an event meant to celebrate press freedom.
The dinner marked Trump’s first presidential attendance at the annual gala, held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel under heightened security after a shooting disrupted the original April 25 event. According to Reuters, the speech mixed humor and insults, with Trump singling out journalists including CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Don Lemon, and Lawrence O’Donnell for personal attacks.
Trump donned a red “Trump 2028” hat and joked about seeking a fourth presidential term, a quip that played on the constitutional 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms. The comment was widely interpreted as a joke, according to multiple outlets including Reuters and CNN.
Many of Trump’s remarks fell flat with the audience. According to Reuters, when one joke bombed, Trump remarked, “That was actually the only thing I thought was good in this whole freaking stupid speech.” At another point, he questioned his speechwriters, asking, “Does anybody understand this?”
The dinner was originally scheduled for April 25 at the Washington Hilton. On that evening, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, rushed a security checkpoint armed with a shotgun and handgun and opened fire outside the ballroom where Trump and cabinet members were seated. The Department of Justice charged Allen with attempting to assassinate the president. Trump was evacuated, and the event was cancelled. Allen pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2026, according to the Justice Department and PBS.
The rescheduled dinner was moved to the Waldorf Astoria and scaled down to about 700 attendees, compared with more than 2,000 at the original event, according to the BBC. The evening honored Secret Service officer Victor Gonzales, who was shot at the security checkpoint in April while stopping the attack, and Waldorf Astoria staff who assisted guests.
Trump opened his remarks by acknowledging the earlier violence. “We do not yield to political violence,” he said, according to Reuters. “No deranged loser with a gun will ever change that.” He later reflected on his complicated relationship with the press, claiming he believed in press freedom and calling himself “the most open and transparent president in history.”
However, much of the speech veered into familiar attack lines from his political rallies. According to Reuters, Trump targeted political opponents including Joe Biden, Chris Christie, and Adam Schiff, as well as celebrities Bruce Springsteen and Jane Fonda. He also made personal attacks on journalists who were present at the event, including Collins, who had won the 2026 WHCA award for broadcast journalism.
The dinner is traditionally an annual fixture on Washington’s calendar for more than a century, raising money for journalism scholarships while celebrating press freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Several hundred veteran journalists and eight professional journalism organizations signed a letter before the rescheduled event urging the correspondents association to use the dinner to condemn what they called Trump’s attacks on the First Amendment, according to Reuters.
Trump’s first presidential attendance at the dinner came after he boycotted the event throughout his first term in office. According to Al Jazeera, Trump had previously declined five invitations across his first and second terms, making him the only president since the dinner’s inception in 1921 to have never attended while in office.
Sources
- Reuters — Trump’s speech at the rescheduled dinner, his attacks on the press, the dinner being moved to the Waldorf Astoria with heightened security, the original shooting in April, and the letter from journalists urging condemnation of Trump’s attacks on the First Amendment.
- BBC — Trump’s attacks on journalists including Collins, the dinner being scaled down to about 700 attendees compared with more than 2,000 at the original event, and details of the rescheduled dinner.
- CNN — Trump’s fourth-term joke and the “Trump 2028” hat, and details of his attacks on journalists.
- C-SPAN — Trump joking about running for a fourth term while wearing the “Trump 2028” hat.
- The Guardian — Trump donning the “Trump 2028” hat and joking about a fourth term.
- Department of Justice — Cole Tomas Allen charged with attempting to assassinate the president in the April 25 shooting.
- PBS — Cole Allen pleading not guilty to assassination attempt charges in May 2026.
- Al Jazeera — Trump having declined five invitations to attend the dinner across his first and second terms, and being the only president since 1921 to have never attended while in office.
