Trump Returns to Correspondents’ Dinner With Rambling Speech
President Donald Trump delivered a rambling, hour-long speech at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Friday night, marking his first appearance at the event as president three months after a failed assassination attempt forced the cancellation of the original gala.
Speaking at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington — a smaller venue than the traditional Washington Hilton — Trump praised some journalists while insulting others, joked about a third presidential term, and acknowledged that he had scrapped the most biting parts of his originally planned April remarks. “That was going to be a doozy,” Trump said, according to AP News.
A Dinner Like No Other
The April 25 dinner at the Washington Hilton was cut short when Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old Caltech graduate, ran past a security checkpoint armed with a shotgun, pistol, and knives. Secret Service agent Victor Gonzales was struck in his protective vest but survived. The attack was the third apparent attempt on Trump’s life since 2024, as detailed by Wikipedia.
The rescheduled dinner was held at the Waldorf Astoria — the former Trump International Hotel — with capacity slashed from roughly 2,600 to about 700 guests. Security was dramatically tightened, with a single entrance, two ID checks, detection dogs, and heavily armed Secret Service agents. “Security was very tightened. There was only one entrance with dogs and metal detectors,” said Ryan Hermelijn, NOS US correspondent, as reported by VRT NWS.
The Speech: Insults, Jokes, and a Third Term Hint
Trump’s 64-minute address blended rally-style political material with what many observers described as poorly received jokes. He targeted late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel, Democratic politicians including Rep. Ilhan Omar and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and journalists including CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. At one point, Trump called the assembled media “the largest group of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ people put together at one time,” according to The Guardian.
The audience’s reaction evolved from polite laughter to scattered titters as the insults accumulated. After one joke about term limits fell flat, Trump broke the fourth wall, asking: “Does anybody get that? I thought that was actually great.” He donned a red “Trump 2028” cap at the end of the speech and quipped about a third presidential term — prohibited by the 22nd Amendment — before insisting he was “only kidding.”
Awards and Tensions
Earlier in the evening, the Wall Street Journal won the Katharine Graham Award for its reporting on Trump sending a birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein — a story that led Trump to sue the newspaper. Trump begrudgingly congratulated the winners but asked: “Can I help pick the awards next year?”
Outgoing WHCA president Weijia Jiang of CBS News opened the dinner with a defiant message. “Tonight our message is this: We are back. We will not be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the final word,” she said, as reported by AP News.
Notably absent from the rescheduled event were First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — all of whom had attended the original April dinner, The Guardian reported.
Press Freedom Under Pressure
The dinner’s celebration of press freedom unfolded against a backdrop of escalating administration actions against the media. The Justice Department had withdrawn subpoenas issued to New York Times reporters just one day before the dinner, following a court hearing in which a federal judge criticized the government’s approach. Trump has sued multiple news organizations, barred the Associated Press from the White House press pool, and pursued regulatory actions through the FCC.
Ryan Hermelijn noted the irony of the situation, as quoted by VRT NWS: “Press freedom in this country has regularly come under pressure in recent months, also by and under his administration.”
What’s Next
Trump concluded his remarks with a backhanded compliment to journalists, telling them he had “a lot of respect” for their profession before adding: “When I’m not around, you’re all gonna be broke.” He also said of the evening: “I didn’t know what to expect. It’s far worse than I originally thought.”
The president hinted he would return next year, but the question remains whether the rescheduled dinner succeeded in demonstrating press resilience — or whether it further damaged public faith in journalism’s relationship with power. Legal proceedings against Cole Tomas Allen, who has pleaded not guilty to attempting to assassinate the president, continue.