President Trump delivered what the White House billed as a "unifying yet vicious" set at the rescheduled White House Correspondents' Dinner Friday night (July 24), roasting the press, political rivals, and his own cabinet in a comedy routine that stretched roughly an hour.
The annual black-tie affair was postponed after a gunman opened fire outside the Washington Hilton ballroom during the original April 25 dinner, prompting a Secret Service evacuation and cutting the event short.
This time the venue shifted to the Waldorf Astoria — formerly the Trump International Hotel — with the Secret Service running airport-style magnetometer screenings and roughly a third of the original attendance, per NewsBusters. Trump opened by noting his familiarity with the building: "It's great to be back at a place that I know very well because I built it."
The president immediately set the tone, declaring the room "the largest group of Trump Derangement Syndrome people ever put together at one time."
He then addressed the shooting that derailed the first dinner, calling it "an assault on our democracy itself" and praising the law enforcement officers who rushed toward the danger — before turning it into a punchline.
After hearing the gunshots many people yelled 'Get down get down,' which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking
"Do you believe it? Get down. She's the only one that really understood what that meant," Trump added, referencing the rapper and Trump supporter who had attended the April gala.
From there, nearly everyone was fair game. Trump trolled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his roadkill controversies, joking that Kennedy "personally ran over the cow in his car" and "cut it up and he brought it here for you to eat tonight so it's very fresh." He added: "Bobby also suggested an appetizer featuring his favorite cut of male raccoon roadkill. But we drew the line at that."
Bruce Springsteen, who has recently jabbed at Trump, drew one of the harsher roasts of the night. "What the hell happened to that guy? He looks like hell," Trump said, before joking that the singer's tour had been renamed "Bored in the USA."
Trump also took swings at Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adam Schiff, Rosie O'Donnell, Jake Tapper, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, and others. Per ZeroHedge, he singled out CNN's Kaitlan Collins with a Bud Light joke — saying he thought she had landed a major sponsorship, "but then I informed her that it wasn't her on the Bud Light can, it was Dylan Mulvaney" — and dubbed Jake Tapper "Fake Tapper." CNN released a statement mid-speech defending its reporters, saying honest journalism "may sometimes irritate politicians" but is "fully protected by the U.S. Constitution."
Trump also had a message for the media's bottom line. "When I'm gone, you're all going to be broke. Your business model is going to be finished," he said, per ZeroHedge.
The president joked about extending his time in office — first musing that "the third time will be better yet," then announcing a fourth run. "I'm pleased to announce my intention to run for a fourth term as President of the United States," he said, before putting on a "Trump 2028" hat. He quickly clarified he was joking, though not before adding: "I won 3 times now, I'm gonna do it again."
Trump rebutted the longstanding claim that Barack Obama's 2011 WHCD roast prompted his political career, insisting: "I just decided that I wanted to make America great again. This had nothing to do with that dinner."
He also acknowledged the shared trauma from April, saying he and the reporters who attended the original dinner "went through a period of trauma" that created a unique bond between them. He said he would attend next year's dinner.
WHCA President Weijia Jiang opened the evening with a message of defiance. "Whatever may divide us, we stand together against political violence," she said. "Tonight, our message is this: We are back. We will not be intimidated."
The dinner also honored Secret Service Officer Victor Gonzales — struck in his protective vest during the April shooting — and Washington Hilton staff, per NewsBusters. Mentalist Oz Pearlman closed the nearly five-hour event with a mind-reading performance.
Despite years of fighting with many of the reporters in the room, Trump ended on a surprisingly conciliatory note. "Sometimes I don't feel you treat me fair," he said. "I have a lot of respect for your profession. Your profession's amazing and I just wanna thank you for having me and it's been fun."
Then came the familiar closer: "We have made America great again and it's gonna get a lot greater."