US President Donald Trump attended the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner on Saturday, an event that was meant to celebrate press freedom after a shooting cancelled the first attempt three months ago. Trump sat as reporters from outlets he has sparred with - and even sued, including the New York Times, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal - came up to receive awards.
The outgoing WHCA head said she would "refuse to let an act of violence have the final word," referring to the gunman tackled at the first dinner in April. But the tone shifted as Trump aimed barbs at the "fake news" and accused many journalists in the room of having "Trump Derangement Syndrome."
In her remarks, WHCA President Weijia Jiang of CBS News said the event would return to the scene of the April shooting, the Washington Hilton, next year. The officer shot at the scene, Victor Gonzalez of the US Secret Service, was given an award by Trump for his actions.
Trump stood and shook hands with award winners, including a Wall Street Journal team honored for coverage of Trump's links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Ahead of the event, many in the White House press corps theorized that Trump - who often criticizes many of the reporters seated just metres away - would deliver a stern rebuke. Instead, he was cordial and conciliatory, saying "the second time is always better," joking, and praising the media - saying he respects "most of them."
"As I said three months ago, the show must go on," Trump said. He also called on Americans to respect freedom of speech: "We settle our differences not with bullets, but with open and vigorous debate. And no deranged loser with a gun will ever change that. We can't let that ever happen."
Trump appeared in a good mood throughout, jokingly telling the media that "sometimes I really do think that some of you don't like me." He added: "This place [the dinner] is really the largest group of 'Trump derangement syndrome' people ever put together at one time. I suspect some of you are lucky that our last dinner was cut short... I was going to go after you."
The event was considerably scaled down from the first correspondents' dinner, with about 700 people in attendance, compared with more than 2,000 in April. Security was also tighter: several blocks around the hotel were blocked off, with a heavy police and national guard presence. Guests were screened twice, with QR codes and IDs, and given wristbands. At one point, visitors walked in a single-file line past two Secret Service officers holding rifles.
The suspect in the April shooting, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, has been charged with attempting to assassinate the president. He was tackled by agents just short of a staircase leading down to the ballroom where the dinner was getting underway.
Other attendees included Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.