Nearly three months after an attempted assassination abruptly halted the original White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner, President Donald Trump and members of the press gathered Friday evening for a scaled-down rescheduled event at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. The gathering brought together journalists, media executives, and politicians in a more intimate setting with heightened security measures.
The WHCA dinner, often referred to informally as “nerd prom” among Washington insiders, traditionally serves as an occasion for the president to deliver lighthearted remarks, including jokes at the expense of the press and themselves. Trump’s planned attendance marked a notable return, as he had canceled the original event in April after a gunman opened fire near the Hilton ballroom where the dinner was being held. The attack forced attendees to take cover, and the president, first lady Melania Trump, and other officials were quickly evacuated by the Secret Service.
When announcing his decision to attend the rescheduled dinner, Trump acknowledged that his April speech contained “rather nasty statements” and suggested he might deliver different remarks this time. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed optimism about the event, highlighting the celebration of “250 years of American greatness and a free press.”
The dinner took place amid heightened tensions between the Trump administration and the media. One day prior, the Justice Department agreed to withdraw subpoenas issued to several New York Times reporters related to their reporting on an Air Force One jet gifted to the U.S. by the Qatari government. The subpoenas, which had sought testimony before a federal grand jury and phone records connected to reporters’ family members, had raised alarms within newsrooms over perceived escalating hostility toward established media outlets. This followed a series of defamation lawsuits filed by Trump and top officials against news organizations and reporters, alongside the administration’s frequent labeling of certain news stories as “fake news.”
The Justice Department maintained that journalists were not targets of ongoing leak investigations and emphasized the press’s vital role in the country’s democracy. The subpoenas’ withdrawal came after a federal judge questioned prosecutors regarding the procedures followed in the criminal inquiry.
Friday’s dinner featured roughly 700 attendees, a significant reduction from the roughly 2,600 participants typical for the event at the Washington Hilton. Notable attendees included Leavitt, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Vice President JD Vance and first lady Melania Trump, both present in April before the attack, did not attend the rescheduled occasion.
The scaled-back event sought to revive a longstanding Washington tradition shadowed by unforeseen violence and ongoing tensions between the administration and the press.