Trump gives hour-long speech at rescheduled WHCA dinner

President Donald Trump delivered a lengthy and contentious speech at the rescheduled White House Correspondents Association dinner on Friday, July 24, 2026, an event that highlighted the deep rift between his administration and the news media. The dinner, held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, D.C., was a scaled-down affair following a shooting attempt that disrupted the original event in April.

Trump’s address, which stretched for over an hour, departed sharply from the traditional presidential remarks at the dinner, which typically feature lighthearted humor and conclude with a serious defense of a free press. Instead, the president delivered a speech that attendees described as a campaign-style rally, filled with personal insults and jokes that largely fell flat in the ballroom. He targeted numerous media figures and political opponents, mocking CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins for not smiling, calling former CNN host Don Lemon “the dumbest man on television,” and making disparaging remarks about Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Representative Jerry Nadler. After several jokes failed to draw laughter, Trump questioned who had written them, at one point stating that a...