‘I was gonna really rip it’: Trump reveals what his WHCA dinner speech was going to be, and promises the rescheduled one will be a ‘speech of love’

President Donald Trump revealed a surprising change of plan during his Sunday morning interview with Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich, just two days after a gunman interrupted the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner. Trump said he had originally planned to deliver a harsh attack on the media at the event, but is now promising a very different tone for the rescheduled dinner.

According to Mediaite, Trump told Heinrich that he had been preparing a scathing speech before the interruption took place on Saturday. “I was gonna really rip it last night,” Trump said, making clear that his original address would have targeted the press directly. He also said the planned speech would have gone after publications he has accused of covering his administration and his war with Iran negatively.

After the gunman interrupted the event, Trump chose to continue with the dinner rather than shut it down, saying he did not want one person to ruin the evening. He also took note of the turnout, saying, “We had a record crowd last night,” and acknowledged the effort put in by the WHCA and CBS. His decision to push through rather than cancel was seen as a signal that he valued the event enough to see it through despite the chaos.

Trump’s promise of a ‘speech of love’ marks a notable shift from his long-running battles with the media

Instead of the tough speech he had planned, Trump is now promising to deliver a “speech of love” at the rescheduled WHCA dinner. This is a significant change in tone from a president who has had a well-documented and often hostile relationship with the press over the years. Whether this represents a genuine shift or simply a response to the unusual circumstances of the evening remains an open question.

Trump’s history with the WHCA dinner goes back well before his presidency. In 2011, then-President Barack Obama used the dinner to publicly mock Trump, joking about his promotion of a conspiracy theory claiming Obama was not a U.S. citizen. That moment is widely seen as one of the more memorable episodes from Trump’s long and complicated relationship with Washington’s political establishment.

The Daily Beast had reported earlier that Trump had planned to throw a tantrum in front of the reporters and make a dramatic exit. His presence was short indeed, but under very different circumstances.  Meanwhile, critics have continued to scrutinize other areas of Trump’s foreign policy, including how Iran-linked tankers have been moving oil despite his blockade efforts. 

In the wake of the interruption, the WHCA has announced plans to increase security measures for future events. Trump has also said he will support the organization in providing top-of-the-line security for upcoming dinners.

The president’s willingness to back stronger security measures shows that despite his complicated feelings about the press, he is committed to making sure events like this one can take place safely. The rescheduled dinner will now give Trump a platform to present a more unifying message, a sharp contrast to the confrontational speech he had originally prepared.

His administration has also been making headlines on other economic fronts, with Trump recently floating the idea of an airline industry bailout that drew a strong reaction from Senator Ted Cruz. Whether his “speech of love” will signal a genuine shift in his relationship with the media remains to be seen.

Trump’s relationship with the press has always been one of the defining features of his time in politics. He has repeatedly called mainstream media outlets the “enemy of the people,” and many of his rallies and public appearances have included direct attacks on journalists and news organizations. The WHCA dinner, which is traditionally a lighthearted event where the president jokes with the press, has often felt like an uneasy setting for Trump given this backdrop.

As Trump prepares to take the stage again, the public and the press will be watching closely to see whether his promised change in tone translates into anything lasting. The rescheduled dinner will be a rare opportunity for Trump to address the media in a setting that calls for goodwill rather than confrontation, and many will be curious to see how he handles it.