Donald Trump has taken his love-in with Nicki Minaj to a new level with a wild gag about her ‘twerking’ at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The US president, who previously described himself as the rapper’s ‘number one fan’, joked that she was the ‘only one that really understood’ how to ‘get down’ when bullets were fired outside the dining hall at the original event in April.
‘After hearing the gunshots, many people yelled, ‘Get down! Get down!’ which caused Nicki Minaj to start twerking,’ Trump joked at the glitzy event on Friday night.
‘She’s the only one that really understood what that meant.’
Trump also praised his allies Pete Hegseth, Stephen Miller, and Tom Homan for showing ‘extreme bravery’ during the horror at the first dinner on April 25.
The president had vowed to appear at the rescheduled dinner to show that ‘the show must go on’ despite the attempt on his life at the original event.
His wife, First Lady Melania Trump, was absent from the event on Friday night, and he was instead seated next to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) President Weija Jiang also sat to his left, and the pair could be seen dining and chatting before the speeches began.
President Donald Trump shake hands with CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner
Donald Trump has taken his love-in with Nicki Minaj to a new level with a wild gag about her ‘twerking’ at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Other guests included Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Cheryl Hines, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and incoming WHCA President Jacqui Heinrich.
During the early moments of his speech, Trump took aim at RFK and Heinrich.
‘I want you all to know that Bobby Kennedy, who’s right here, personally ran over the cow in his car, and he cut it up and he brought it here for you to eat tonight,’ Trump quipped of the entree attendees were eating. ‘So it’s very fresh.’
‘Bobby also suggested an appetizer featuring his favorite cut of male raccoon roadkill, but we drew the line at that,’ he said, to uproarious laughter.
Trump said of Heinrich, the incoming WHCA president, ‘She looks so beautiful, but she can be so nasty. How can that happen?’
‘She just got married to a very successful congressman, a very good congressman, Trump said of her husband, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
‘I’d like to have a couple of more votes from him,’ Trump said. ‘That’s okay. On occasion, he chose a little independence. We don’t like that. But he’s a very professional guy, and he loves our country.’
U.S. President Donald Trump greets CBS News senior White House correspondent and WHCA President Weijia Jiang at the White House Correspondents’ Association
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and his wife Katie Miller are seen at the WHCD
The rescheduled dinner is taking place with heightened security in the ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria hotel, a smaller venue that held only about 700 people, instead of the Washington Hilton where the previous event was held.
Speaking at the outset of the event Friday, Jiang highlighted a rare ‘split screen’ moment in the moments after the shooting that halted the original event.
‘While journalists in the ballroom were gathering facts and getting them to the public, I got a rare glimpse of something few of us ever see in real time,’ she said.
‘In a holding room, President Trump was huddled with members of his cabinet, asking questions, finding the best way to share the answers with everyone, which is our job description too.’
‘I keep coming back to that split screen – not because it was dramatic, but because it quietly proved, no matter how complicated or tense the relationship is between the press and the presidency, what we share is far more important than anything else, and that is our duty to serve the American people,’ she said.
Donald Trump made good on his promise to appear to appear at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner after the original was canceled following another attempt on Trump’s life
Incoming WHCA President Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News highlighted a similar theme.
‘The attempt on President Trump’s life last April was a sobering reminder that democracy is not immune to violence, and the freedoms that we cherish can never be taken for granted,’ she said.
‘Political violence must have no home in America.’
Despite that, the White House promised a high-caliber speech from Trump, who until this year has never attended a White House Correspondents’ Dinner as president.
The president’s remarks will be ‘a combination of unifying yet vicious, and serious yet hilarious, all at the same time, if you can imagine that,’ White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said ahead of Trump’s speech Friday afternoon.
‘One thing I can assure you, it will be entertaining,’ she added.
Trump also mulled his speech on Truth Social last month.
‘I don’t know whether or not I will give the same rather nasty statements, at least as it concerns certain people, but we will soon find out,’ the Republican president wrote.
‘In any event, it will be a ‘HOT’ ticket!’
The President was without wife and First Lady Melania Trump, instead seated in between WHCA President Weija Jiang and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday at Washington’s Waldorf Astoria hotel
Trump speaks with outgoing WHCA President Weijia Jiang
Fox News Senior White House correspondent and incoming WHCA President Jacqui Heinrich
Police officers secure the outside of the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC
As they dined, attendees heard from current and former White House Correspondents’ Association presidents highlighting the importance of press freedom.
They were also shown footage of the gunman trying to enter the Washington Hilton ballroom in April – an emotional experience for many in the audience, who had been at the same event months prior.
That individual, Cole Allen, 31, pleaded not guilty in May to federal charges, including attempting to assassinate the president.
During a press conference after the original April event, Trump described the shooter as ‘a sick person, a very sick person.’
‘He’s a lone wolf, a whack job,’ Trump said of the shooter. ‘These are crazy people. Sick, sick people.’
Besides the pared-down approach, there was another marked change at Friday’s dinner: two additional awards to individuals who risked their lives and otherwise acted courageously to ensure the safety of the president and other attendees.
A video is shown of a man trying to force his way through security and firing a shotgun at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner
Attendees watch a video of when a man tried to force his way through security and fired a shotgun at the rescheduled WHCD
Agents stand guard after an incident at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner shooting
Security officials evacuate U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson as a shooter opens fire
The suspect was caught on surveillance footage sprinting past a security checkpoint and headed straight for the ballroom where thousands of journalists were gathered for the annual event
One award was presented to Victor Gonzales, the Secret Service agent who was staffing a security checkpoint in April and was struck in his protective vest.
‘Officer Gonzales … ran toward danger so that thousands of others could make it home safely,’ Jiang said in a statement.
‘His courage stemmed from a dedication to service, which we are looking forward to honoring this week.’
A second award was presented to the staff of the Washington Hilton hotel, site of the first dinner.
With security in mind, there will be only one entrance at the much smaller venue, with airport-style metal detectors.
Guests received individual QR entry codes in advance, and nobody can get in unless recognized.
‘There is NO red carpet at this dinner,’ said a memo Jiang sent to some guests last month, seen by The Associated Press. ‘There are NO onsite pre-dinner receptions.’
The dress code this time is a looser ‘black tie optional,’ and dinner includes grilled peach and burrata salad, lobster, and beef Wellington.
The evening, as at the last dinner, has entertainment by mentalist Oz Pearlman, along with the awards presentations and Trump’s remarks.
Donald Trump and CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang speak at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner
‘The president looks forward to finishing what he started,’ press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday, confirming Trump’s attendance
It comes during a time of fast-increasing tension between the media and a president who, in his second term, has tried to exert pressure on media outlets he is unhappy with in a variety of ways.
That pressure has ranged from sanctions against members of the White House press corps to regulatory actions through the Federal Communications Commission to outright lawsuits.
Those tensions have only escalated since April, with the latest example reaching a New York courtroom on Thursday.
There, criticized by a federal judge for sloppy legal work, the government withdrew subpoenas that would have compelled three New York Times reporters to testify about their sources for articles about Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet.
