{"id":371618,"date":"2026-07-25T08:31:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T03:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=371618"},"modified":"2026-07-25T08:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T03:01:14","slug":"trump-says-show-must-go-on-at-rescheduled-correspondents-dinner-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/07\/25\/trump-says-show-must-go-on-at-rescheduled-correspondents-dinner-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says \u2018show must go on\u2019 at rescheduled correspondents\u2019 dinner – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

President Donald Trump addressed an enormous roomful of journalists Friday night at a correspondents\u2019 dinner rescheduled from April after a shooting upended the primary edition. Said the president: \u201cAs I said three months ago, the show must go on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump entered the ballroom to polite applause, and was thanked for his support by White House Correspondents\u2019 Association president Weijia Jiang of CBS News. After dinner, he then sat through greater than an hour of awards presentations \u2014 including many for journalists who had done pointed stories about him and his administration in the course of the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s do that again,\u201d Jiang quipped, welcoming the gang. The White House press corps, she noted, \u201call the time has a follow-up.\u201d Turning serious, she referred back to the trauma and confusion of the unique dinner in April.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight our message is that this: We’re back,\u201d she said. \u201cWe won’t be intimidated. We refuse to let an act of violence have the ultimate word.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The rescheduled dinner was going down within the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, a smaller venue that held only about 700 people. Guests entered via a single entrance, through two ID checks and past a detection dog, armed officers and security guards. There was no red carpet and no separate cocktail receptions preceding the dinner.<\/p>\n

He was widely expected to bring the fighting words \u2014 \u201cslightly nasty,\u201d he said \u2014 against the press that he\u2019d planned to deliver in April before the event descended into chaos when a gunman stormed a security checkpoint, forcing an evacuation of the room. But early in his speech, Trump signaled that he had scrapped his planned remarks and was going to deliver a combination of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is actually the most important group of \u2018Trump Derangement Syndrome\u2019 people put together at one time,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Trump has been coy about what he might say<\/h2>\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"Get\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n

Get breaking National news<\/h2>\n

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox because it happens so you will not miss a trending story.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

As for Trump himself, he indicated last month he wasn\u2019t sure. \u201cI don\u2019t know whether or not I’ll give the identical slightly nasty statements, a minimum of because it concerns certain people, but we’ll soon discover,\u201d the Republican president wrote on his Truth Social platform. \u201cIn any event, it would be a \u2018HOT\u2019 ticket!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Besides the pared-down approach, there was one other change at Friday\u2019s dinner: two additional awards. One presented to Victor Gonzales, the Secret Service agent who was staffing a security checkpoint in April and was struck in his protective vest.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficer Gonzales \u2026 ran toward danger in order that hundreds of others could make it home safely,\u201d Weijia Jiang, WHCA president, said in an announcement. \u201cHis courage stemmed from a dedication to service, which we’re looking forward to honoring this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second award was to be presented to the staff of the Washington Hilton hotel, site of the primary dinner.<\/p>\n

The dress code this time was a looser \u201cblack tie optional,\u201d and dinner includes grilled peach and burrata salad, lobster and beef Wellington. The evening, as on the last dinner, had entertainment by mentalist Oz Pearlman, together with the awards presentations and Trump\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n

Jiang and her fellow board members worked hard to bring about this WHCA dinner 2.0, not wanting to let a violent act \u2014 or the image of colleagues hiding under tables \u2014 remain the ultimate thought. Announcing the rescheduling, she emphasized the dinner\u2019s stated purpose: \u201ca celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe won’t allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a 12 months after we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and every little thing we stand for,\u201d Jiang said.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below commercial<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t