The White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner is one of Washington’s premier events — an evening befitting the President and anyone who can score the coveted ticket.
As a young journalist, I earned my seat as a White House Correspondents’ Association scholarship recipient during my last semester of graduate school.
I arrived expecting an evening of glamour, ball gowns, an open bar, members of the Trump administration and the who’s who of Washington journalism. But the glamour ended abruptly.
I was in the bathroom when the chaos erupted. The Secret Service yelled for us to stay inside.
Then I heard it. POP! POP! POP!
U.S. Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump, third from left, as he is taken from the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein/AP)In that moment, I found myself locked in a bathroom with barely any cell service and even less information. A woman from the TSA a few stalls away told me what I could barely believe, that a gunman had pushed past security and was now standing right outside.
I texted my dad: “Started shooting.” And then: “I’m so scared.”
I called my friend who was still in the ballroom, but the only words we could get out were “I’m safe.”
I thought to myself: I don’t want to die.
Within minutes, agents had subdued the gunman and secured President Donald Trump. They escorted us out of the bathroom, and I looked to my right — where CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was slipping back into his shoes. He had been knocked out of them by officers trying to protect him during the chaos.
I saw a journalism icon standing in his socks while armed officers yelled from every direction. The night was a blur.
I wrote a Substack about my first experience. Luckily, I got a second chance to eat dinner in the same room with the president on July 24. By that time, I had started my new role as a Washington reporting fellow for NEWSWELL and Times of San Diego.
The Friday event at the Waldorf Astoria in downtown D.C. – previously a Trump hotel – had the same wow factor as the first shindig, but was a different hotel with upgraded security.
The 700 guests — including the White House Correspondents’ Association scholars — passed through a single entrance. We received a wristband, went through two ID checkpoints and ticket-scans and walked through a metal detector.
With all the extra security, the entrance felt less glamorous this time, with stoic law enforcement officers lining the halls down to the ballroom.
The scholarship recipients were seated to the right of Trump.
The tables in line with the podium at the front of the room had an all-access view of the president, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and the officers of the White House Correspondents’ Association, top correspondents for news outlets including ABC, Bloomberg and Reuters. The association represents hundreds of journalists and is dedicated to protecting their access to the officials and events inherent to covering a presidential administration.
The event kicked off with a meal suited for a president, though it wasn’t McDonalds — one of Trump’s known favorites.
After eating, it was the scholar journalists’ time to shine. We were announced individually and stood in front of a room of our biggest industry heroes.
This year’s second White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, July 24, 2026, featured the year’s group of correspondent fellows. The author is in the front row, second from right. (Photo provided by the White House Correspondents’ Association)The real highlight of the night came after the recognition of the scholars.
The association honored reporting over the past year.
Winners went on stage and shook hands with the president. Yes, including The Wall Street Journal team that reported on a 2003 birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein, which they reported to have carried Trump’s signature.
The silence in the room was loud, but that’s the purpose of the dinner — for White House reporters to share a meal with the nation’s leader.
Trump’s remarks to the crowd were long-winded and laced with media criticisms and pointed jabs. He even joked about a third term, pulling out a “Trump 2028” hat.
The crowd was mostly quiet during the president’s hour-long speech, except for the tables in the front occupied by members of his cabinet.
C-SPAN’s quick cutaways from the president showed an audience that was mostly deadpan or scrolling on their phones.
The crowd was drawn back in by a performance from mentalist Oz Pearlman, who worked the crowd for a bit before the evening wrapped up. And just in time, as the president appeared to take long blinks or just be soaking in the moment with his eyes closed.
The overwhelming feeling as I walked from the ballroom was surreal.
In a room with the most powerful people in the world and the reporters who document history as it unfolds, the night felt like a reminder of why journalism matters — and the need to keep doing it.
Alysa Horton covers Washington and the California congressional delegation as a fellow for NEWSWELL and Times of San Diego.
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