President Trump Denounces WHCD Shooting as Attack on the Constitution, Discourse

Curtis Houck
April 26th, 2026 2:40 AM

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Late Saturday night, President Trump delivered a forceful set of remarks following the shooting inside the Washington Hilton outside the White House Correspondents Dinner (WHCD), calling it the work of a “very sick person” and “thug” who “attacked our Constitution” and “free speech” itself, but failed in his attempts at bloodshed.

Rather, Trump said, it reminded Americans of the need to “recommit with their hearts and resolving our differences peacefully” even though “no country is immune” from political violence and what could be a third shooter who targeted him for assassination.

Trump took to the podium at around 10:33 p.m. Eastern, immediately stating the evening’s result “was very unexpected” and the threat was “incredibly acted upon by the Secret Service and law enforcement.”

“[T]his was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press. And in a certain way, it did, because the fact that they just unified us in a room – that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful, a very beautiful thing to see,” Trump added, speaking warmly of the press, a profession in which many seek to tear him down with epithets and tsunamis of negative headlines.

He also said he immediately called for the relevant security footage to be released so Americans could see “the violence of this thug that attacked our Constitution, and…how quickly Secret Service and law enforcement acted on our country’s behalf, really did a great job.”;

After sharing he spoke with a law enforcement officer who took a bullet to his bulletproof vest and arguing Saturday night gave him further evidence of the need for a White House ballroom, he acknowledged the prior two assassination attempts on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania and one of his Florida golf courses.

The President pivoted back to the broader context of the evening and continued his magnanimous tone:

Along with restating his disgust with the suspect as “a sick person, a very sick person,” the President stated yet again the necessity to denounce this attack on free speech and the need to reschedule because “we don’t want things like this to happen” and “we’re not going to let anybody take over our society” by “cancel[ing] things out”:

Trump took a litany of questions, starting with White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) President Weijia Jiang of CBS:

Fox’s Peter Doocy was next and wondered if Trump had any thought as to “why,” concerning assassination attempts, “do you think this keeps happening to you.” Trump chalked it up to his impact and the unfortunate reality of how assassinated Presidents were those having “the biggest impact”:

Trump even let CNN host and former conservative reporter Kaitlan Collins have a go:

A few reporters later, Agence France-Presse’s Danny Kemp asked if there’s a nexus to the war in Iran and then Politico’s Sophia Cai considered whether he’s been “concerned about” another Butler-type attempt on his life:

Fast-forwarding to the final two questions and NBC’s Garrett Haake had the most sobering: “[T]here’s been so much political violence not just aimed at yourself, but at other members of, you know, members of congress, state house speakers, you name it. Is that just the cost of doing business to do politics in America anymore? Well, what does that say about our country?...Is it possible to turn the temperature down, at this point?”

The President answered in the affirmative while noting political violence is common in other parts of the world, such as South America, but he wouldn’t stop enacting his agenda on everything from the economy to taking out Iran.

New York Post’s Steven Nelson also pulled on this big-picture thread and wondered if what happened would “impact you as a leader” and “change your leadership”:

Trump stated in part he “like[s] to not think about it” and “handle it as well as…it can be handled” because “a lot of other people…become basket cases.”

To see the relevant transcript from the April 25 briefing, click here.

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