Trump praises press and vows to reschedule Correspondents’ Dinner
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President Donald Trump offered rare praise to the press after gunshots were fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night, prompting the evening to be rescheduled.
“This was an event dedicated to free speech that was supposed to bring members of both parties together with members of the press, and in a way it did, because they had just joined together,” Trump said at the White House press conference. “I saw a room that was completely integrated. It was beautiful in a way, a beautiful thing to see.”
Trump’s comments came after he confirmed the dinner would be canceled in accordance with safety protocol, despite “fighting like hell” for it to go ahead. He reiterated his intention to reschedule the event within the next month.
A gunman rushed to security at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night and shot a Secret Service officer, who was hit in his bulletproof vest and survived. The suspect was arrested and charged with multiple crimes. Trump and his Cabinet, who were at the dinner due to gunfire, were evacuated and the dinner will be rescheduled.
THE PRESIDENT OF THE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCED THE EVENT WILL BE RESCHEDULED AFTER THE SHOOTING
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and U.S. President Donald Trump attend the White House Correspondents’ dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC on April 25, 2026. (Mandel NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Adding to the strangeness of the scene at the White House is the fact that Trump and many of the White House officials and reporters in the room were still wearing tuxedos and dresses after arriving from a black-tie dinner.
“I think it’s very important to say this, though, and I told the representatives for the evening that they did a very nice job. It was a very good evening. And again they’re talking about freedom of speech in our Constitution. That’s the whole point, not just the White House reporters. It was really based on the freedom of speech in our Constitution. But very importantly I said we’re going to do it again in the next 30 days. And we’re going to make it bigger and better and more beautiful. So I just want to thank everyone who attended. I also want to thank the press and the media. In your coverage.” “You acted very responsibly. I will say that I watched what was happening and you acted very responsibly.” he said.
Trump also took questions from members of the press. The first came from Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, where she took the opportunity to compliment the CBS correspondent for the evening.
TRUMP and First Lady Evacuated from Reporters’ Dinner After Gunshots Heard
President Donald Trump is escorted out during the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA. (Bo Erickson /Reuters)
“I just want to say you did a great job. What a great evening. And we’ll reschedule the show. It’s very difficult for him to ask a killer question after that, but you did a great job,” Trump said.
Jiang asked Trump for his thoughts as the chaos unfolded, given his experience with assassination attempts. Trump said it’s always a shocking event no matter when it happens.
Trump also shared the photo of the suspect being arrested. His Real Social account.
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Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and the rest of the president’s cabinet were removed from the table after shots were heard. The location of the Washington Hilton was also the location of the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
President Donald Trump made a statement after the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was canceled following the shooting incident on Saturday night. (Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Trump announced last month: accepted the invitation to join He explained that the country’s 250th anniversary was influential in his decision at this year’s dinner.
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Trump’s participation was for the first time present at the event as During both terms, President Trump had previously attended a dinner as a private citizen in 2011, where he was toasted by then-President Barack Obama.
Trump faces two assassination attempts in 2024; One of these was the gunman’s bullet grazing his ear in Pennsylvania.
Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
