Trump to deliver ‘unifying yet vicious’ remarks at press dinner months after shooting incident, White House says - NBC News

What the report says

NBC News reported that President Donald Trump was scheduled to speak Friday night at a rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, months after the original April event was canceled when a gunman charged past Secret Service agents and disrupted the gathering. The makeup dinner was set for a different, smaller and more secure venue, according to the outlet’s account.

The report said Trump had told reporters after the April incident that he had originally planned to sharply criticize the media in his remarks, but that he expected to take a more restrained tone when the event was held again. NBC’s headline said the White House described the planned remarks as “unifying yet vicious,” suggesting an address that would attempt to balance a broader message with Trump’s familiar attacks on the press.

The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is traditionally a high-profile Washington event bringing together journalists, public officials and political figures. Presidential appearances at the dinner can carry symbolic weight because they put the administration and the press corps in the same room, often amid jokes, criticism and commentary about the relationship between the media and the White House.

The rescheduling matters because security concerns now frame an event already shaped by political tension between Trump and national news organizations. NBC identified its reporters on the story as Dareh Gregorian, Tara Prindiville, Monica Alba, Gabe Gutierrez and Casey Wooten, with the article updated early July 25, 2026.