"Responsible coverage," Trump heaps rare praise on media post shooting incident

Trump, in his address to the press in the briefing room shortly after the shooting incident, said that the event in itself was not just about the White House correspondents, but the constitution itself.

"I told the representatives of the evening, they did such a beautiful job was such a beautiful evening. And again, they're talking about free speech in our Constitution. That's what it's all about, not just a White House correspondents. It's really it was really based on free speech in our Constitution. But I said very importantly that we'll do it again within the next 30 days. We'll make it bigger and better and even nicer. So I just want to thank everybody that was involved. I also want to thank the press, the media. You've been very responsible in your coverage. I will say I've been seeing what's been out. You've been very responsible," he said.

Trump assured the White House Correspondents' Association President Weijia Jiang that they will soon reschedule the event.

"Madam Chairman, I just want to say you did a fantastic job. What a beautiful evening and we're going to reschedule. Okay? Thank you very much. And after that, it's very tough for her to ask a killer question, right? But you have done a fantastic job," he said.

After the security lapse, everyone started taking cover under the tables and lying on the ground. This went on for 5-10 minutes. The journalists of different media houses immediately pulled their phones out and made reports on what just transpired.

The Trump administration otherwise maintains a tough relationship with the reporters. For instance, on August 11, 2025, during a press briefing, Trump was asked, "The question is this. You're building the big beautiful ballroom. Could we build a big, beautiful briefing room?" To this, he said, "I don't want to do that. I don't want you to be comfortable. So no, I don't want to make life comfortable."

Trump also used the incident to promote unity among different political leanings.

"But in light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our difference peacefully. We have to we have to resolve our differences. I will say, you had Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Conservatives, Liberals, and Progressives. Those words are interchangeable perhaps, but maybe they're not. But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd, there was a record-setting group of people. And there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched, I watched and I was very, very impressed by that," he said.

Chaos broke out on Saturday evening (local time) after suspected gunshots were reportedly fired in the lobby of the Washington Hilton, leading to the evacuation of US President Donald Trump and other senior officials from the White House Correspondents' Dinner.