2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner

Last week President Trump gave a speech at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria. The event had been originally scheduled for April 26 at the Washington Hilton but was interrupted by a would-be assassin before the President could deliver his speech.

The rescheduled event didn’t have any fireworks or assassination attempts, thank God. It could have used a bit of levity though.

During his first term in office and so far during his second term, Mr. Trump has routinely cracked some good off the cuff jokes that have drawn snickers as well as guffaws on occasion.

He has a good, if not mean sense of humor he likes to employ when he’s in the mood.

After the meal before Trump spoke, WHCA President Weijia Jiang gave a moving tribute to Secret Service agent, Victor Gonnzales, awarding him with the WHCA President’s Award for Exceptional Service. Gonzales was shot at the April 26 event when he confronted the shooter before he could get into the room.

Jiang said, “That evening in April did not unfold as planned, but it ended exactly like it was supposed to. Twenty-six hundred guests plus hundreds of others who were working that night got to go home unharmed. And that was made possible by the brave men and women of law enforcement and the United States Secret Service.” Later she added, “One officer placed himself directly in harm’s way and engaged the armed suspect. Even after gunfire struck his protective vest, he stayed in the fight and the attacker was stopped.” The crowd gave a standing ovation.

Headlines from coverage of the speech lacked a lot of enthusiasm. The Washington Post: “Trump’s insult-laden speech to press dinner draws mostly stunned silence.” New York Times: “At Correspondents’ Dinner, a Rambling Trump Hurls Insults.” CNN: “Trump bombed at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner – and proved its point.” Even FOX News: “Trump spares no one at the WHCA dinner, taking aim at Dems, press and his own Cabinet.”

Mr. Trump began by saying, “The speech that I had ready just a short while. Oh, that was going to be a doozy. I was so psyched. I was going to rip people. And I don’t know, just something changed it – really for the better. But I just wouldn’t want to do that.” During the speech he paused after a particularly obvious faux pas and asked, “Who wrote that line?”

After some lame remarks early on, President Trump swiveled to the correspondents saying, “To show just how much I care about the press, and I want to save your ratings, I am pleased to announce my intention to, and this is somewhat of a scoop, my intention to run for a fourth term as president of the United States.”

Then he donned his signature red cap embroidered with “Trump 2028.”

He continued, “I won three times and now, I’m going to do it again.” After a pause he said, “I’m gonna do it. It should be easy. I’m getting very good at running for president.” The room filled with laughter, and the president insisted several times during the remainder of the speech that he was merely joking.

Maybe President Trump won again, turning a one-sided presidential roast into a milder, good-natured prelude to the fall elections.