White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting: Trump Unusually Praises Reporter Weijia Jiang

A shooting occurred at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Former U.S. President Trump, who was evacuated, later held a press conference and unusually praised White House Correspondents' Association President and Chinese-American reporter Weijia Jiang, drawing attention.
イベントNQ 0/100出典:PR Times

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  • 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 14:17
  • 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 14:31 (14 min after Published)
  • 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 27, 2026 at 16:53 (2h 21m after Collected)
Central News Agency, Washington, 26th — Integrated foreign reports: A shooting incident occurred during the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner on the 25th, and Secret Service agents urgently escorted U.S. President Trump away. Hours later, Trump held a press conference and unusually praised Weijia Jiang, the White House Correspondents' Association President and Chinese-American reporter, drawing attention.

The New York Times reported that Trump was still wearing a tuxedo at the press conference and gave the first question opportunity to Weijia Jiang, the White House Correspondents' Association President and CBS Chinese-American reporter. He also changed his past interactions with the media and highly praised her.

Trump said, "Madam President, I just want to say, you did a fantastic job, what a wonderful evening it was."

Weijia Jiang played an important role in organizing the dinner. When gunshots rang out, she was sitting next to Trump and, after the suspect was apprehended, calmly announced the latest situation to the shaken guests.

At the press conference, Weijia Jiang was still wearing her evening gown. She first thanked Trump for his praise and then asked, "Can you describe what went through your mind at that moment?" Trump then described how Secret Service agents urgently removed him from his seat, and he was sitting between Weijia Jiang and First Lady Melania Trump at the time.

Weijia Jiang later stated in an interview with CBS that the dinner was originally an occasion for government officials and news media to jointly commemorate the First Amendment to the Constitution. She described how she and Trump crouched down together after the shooting until the Secret Service took Trump away, and they were close enough to touch each other. "At that time, I had no idea what was happening."

After the incident, Weijia Jiang returned to the stage and, with emotion in her voice, announced that the dinner would continue, drawing enthusiastic applause from the guests. However, authorities eventually advised all guests to leave.

This was the first time Trump attended the White House Correspondents' Association's annual dinner since becoming president. He boycotted participation throughout his first term and did not attend last year either.

Weijia Jiang is the first non-white woman to serve as President of the White House Correspondents' Association and has clashed with Trump multiple times in the past. In 2020, she pressed Trump on why he suggested she "ask China" about COVID-19 (2019 novel coronavirus disease) mortality rates, and Trump angrily ended the press conference.

Weijia Jiang mentioned in 2024 that she was born in China and grew up in rural West Virginia, where her parents ran a Chinese restaurant, often working up to 18 hours a day. "They gave me the gift of my work ethic and made me understand what a rare opportunity it is to do what you love." (Compiler: Chang Ming-Hsuan) 1150427

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