I’m going to break format a bit for our top-of-the-week newsletter and focus on just one topic today. But before I do, another thank you for helping Local News International win our first Webby after just nine months of existence. We also snagged a ‘Best in Audience Engagement’ award in Bogotá, Colombia at the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards, beating out our competitors in North, Central and South America.
We need more hardboiled journalist Dave
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Ok, onto the main event … which was not staged!
Trump stands above the people he’s ridiculed for a decade in politics.
Before they were able to serve President Trump a well-done steak with ketchup, a gunman fired shots Saturday night outside the Washington Hilton ballroom and Trump was rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Law enforcement officials say the 31-year-old suspected shooter was from California and exchanged fire with security at a checkpoint.
Naturally, many people online are openly speculating that this entire shooting was staged. The comments are all over Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok. No platform is safe from this speculative commentary. And before it sounds like I’m riding my anti-misinformation high horse, I completely get where they’re coming from. It’s very easy to take moments before, during and after the event and compile a picture that supports that argument.
Suddenly Karoline Leavitt saying “shots will be fired” in describing Trump’s prepared remarks take on a new meaning (never mind she was very clearly discussing the roasting aspect of the dinner).
FBI Director Kash Patel casually standing around doing nothing is being interpreted as evidence he knew another secret plan was happening (despite copious amounts of evidence that he is just completely unqualified for his job).
Removing Vice President Vance seconds before President Trump is apparently evidence of foul play (if you watch the video, it’s clear that Vance’s Secret Service detail was just moving faster as Trump has far more men gathering to surround and protect him.).
As I discussed in last week’s video, connecting these moments is how conspiracy thinking works. It’s taking all the aspects that fit and ignoring the rest.
Here are the facts that we know now:
The suspected shooter was taken into custody without being shot or killed, despite early social media speculation.
As a result of quick action, attendees were understandably confused, having heard a disturbance but with no visual confirmation. This is why …
You see a lot of people still casually eating and drinking after the fact.
We don’t yet know the shooter’s motive, but the reporting says he was likely targeting administration officials.
Most importantly, there is no actual evidence this shooting was staged.
HOWEVER, there is plenty of evidence that this dinner should never have happened, and in my opinion, should never happen again, at least in its current format.
Don’t get me wrong, in my decade in D.C., I thoroughly enjoyed attending the events surrounding the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Especially in my long-ago youth, it became a game to see how many of the before and after parties we could sneak into without invitations (all of them). I’ll never forget, in 2018, running into the most important people at the Washington Post, including Executive Editor Marty Baron, at a party I was definitely not invited to, just months into my employment. I quickly bolted for the exit.
So, the accusations of this being “nerd prom” are completely accurate, earned and even celebrated. All in all, it’s a very good idea to celebrate the press in our nation’s capital! But the event itself is a complete disservice to the press and the trust it so desperately needs to reestablish.
Kind of a perfect metaphor for the media and the role they've played over the last ten years
— Mike Drucker (@mikedrucker.bsky.social) 2026-04-26T02:31:35.270Z
I mentioned in last week’s video that Obama accidentally foreshadowed Trump’s presidency at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but he also accidentally demonstrated the problematic optics of this annual event.
It’s a lose-lose situation. Either the president is chummy with the press, which makes an outsider question how much the administration is being held accountable. Or, as has been the case in Trump’s first and second term, the very invitation of the president to the event is a complete slap in the face to the First Amendment - which Jake Tapper has literally rolled into his suit pocket in yet another perfect, unfortunate metaphor.
Just make sure the president can’t see it!
As I pointed out on Bluesky and Threads, inviting Trump to the event because every president has always been invited “for more than 100 years” perfectly encapsulates why trust in the media is at an all-time low. The very man who willfully, happily and constantly lies to the press was invited in with welcome arms, and to what end? Because there’s an established precedent? Does the White House Correspondents’ Association think inviting his administration will give them better access long-term?
Instead, time and time again, Trump punches the press right in the face and they take it because they think they’re supposed to. Six national journalism advocacy groups say Trump has engaged in “the most systematic and comprehensive assault on freedom of the press by a sitting American president.”
The White House Correspondents’ Association has forgotten the most pure, red-blooded American trait of all: standing up to a bully.
The press is in an abusive relationship with the president is doing nothing to break the cycle. Even worse, while some of the facts from this shooting can be easily established by the police and reporters in attendance, the administration could lie or fudge some of the details to make themselves look better. Like the previous assassination attempt on Trump, it’s very clear it happened. But it’s still unclear if a bullet or shrapnel from the bullet hit Trump, and how serious the injury itself was. Naturally, Trump prefers the most heroic version, that he “felt the bullet ripping through his skin.”
To be clear, there is no evidence of conspiracy here. Both attempted shootings were very real. Instead, there’s just mountains of evidence that this entire dinner should be rethought. Sure, you can invite the president. But maybe don’t make him the guest of honor on a table up front, looking down upon the very people he abuses? Make it instead about the incredible reporters who win awards at this event. Invite celebrities who celebrate and champion the truth, not the most famous people that will say “yes” to a red carpet.
I’ve got a lot of smoke coming off the keyboard as I talk, so allow me to take cool off with something less spicy. I’m very glad everyone in attendance is safe and unharmed, and that the Secret Service agent shot in the chest, while wearing a bullet-proof vest, is “doing great.” I hope there’s no lasting trauma as a result of what took place. Also, I genuinely like Jake Tapper. The pocket square thing is just so, so unintentionally funny.
