Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is headed back to Washington next week, with US President Donald Trump confirming the visit during a combative return to the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Mr Netanyahu’s office had said earlier that he is due to arrive in Washington DC on Monday before sitting down with Mr Trump on Tuesday.
During the trip, Mr Netanyahu will also attend the funeral of deceased US Senator Lindsey Graham, according to his office.
Mr Trump’s confirmation came in remarks at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, held three months after an assassination attempt threw the annual event into chaos.
“This place is really the largest group of Trump derangement syndrome people ever put together at one time,” Mr Trump told the media gala at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington.
The president opened on a softer note, recalling the gunman’s attack in April that forced security agents to rush him out of the dinner.
“The show must go on,” he said.
That restraint did not last long. Mr Trump soon veered into a broadside against familiar targets, beginning with the journalists in the room before turning his attention to Democratic rivals.
The media gala was held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington DC
Earlier in the evening, Mr Trump laughed and raised his hands as he greeted a Wall Street Journal team whose reporting had examined his links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Later, after journalists were honoured for coverage of the Republican’s second presidency, he quipped that “this has not been an easy evening, all these awards”.
Mr Trump also returned to the subject of a third term, something the US constitution forbids, while maintaining that he was only joking.
“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better. And the third time is better yet,” Mr Trump said, before adding, “I’m only kidding”.
He pressed the joke further, producing a red “Trump 2028” cap and saying he was “pleased to announce my intention to – and this is a somewhat of a scoop – my intention to run for a fourth term as president of the United States”.
Mr Trump throws his ‘TRUMP 2028’ hat to a guest
Mr Trump also described US Senator Chuck Schumer as Palestinian.
“I am going to send him [Schumer] a beautiful Palestinian outfit tomorrow, so he can greet Bibi Netanyahu when he comes to town next week,” Mr Trump said.
“He turned Palestinian,” Mr Trump said of Mr Schumer, who is Jewish, while also joking that sharia law was Mr Schumer’s “new founding”.
US Muslim and Jewish advocacy groups have previously condemned Mr Trump’s repeated use of Palestinian as a label for Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, saying he deploys the term disrespectfully as a slur and an insult.
Much of the hour resembled one of Mr Trump’s campaign rallies, with the president even mockingly blaming his speech writers when some punchlines failed to land.
Still, he closed by telling the journalists gathered before him that he had “tremendous respect” for their work, adding a final jab: “When I’m gone, you’re all going to be broke.”
Old hostilities
Mr Trump, making his first appearance at the White House Correspondents Dinner after years of open hostility with the press corps, said he intended to attend again next year.
His return came under tightened security, three months after an alleged assassination attempt triggered a frantic evacuation from the event when shots were fired at the Washington Hilton and the black-tie dinner was abandoned.
Cole Allen, a 31-year-old California man, has pleaded not guilty to charges that include attempting to kill the president.
This time, the US Secret Service left little to chance. Police and National Guard officers shut down surrounding streets and established a large security perimeter, though guests moving through the checkpoints encountered only a brief inspection.
Organisers moved the dinner from the Hilton to the Waldorf Astoria, a former Trump hotel, making the gala smaller and “more intimate”.
Members of the National Guard outside the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner
“Let’s try this again,” said CBS correspondent Weijia Jiang, the outgoing president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, who had also presided over the interrupted dinner.
“Tonight our message is this: We are back. We will not be intimidated. We will not let an act of violence have the final word.”
Incoming WHCA president Jacqui Heinrich said the dinner would move back to the Washington Hilton next year.
‘Threat picture’
US Secret Service Director Sean Curran stood in the entrance hall watching as guests arrived, an AFP reporter saw.
Attendees queued for an extended period to present a QR code and identification before entering the atrium where the dinner took place.
In addition to Mr Trump’s speech, the rescheduled programme featured a performance by mentalist Oz Pearlman and a tribute to a Secret Service agent who helped stop the alleged gunman in April.
Mr Curran defended the security operation at the original event, telling reporters, “It did work, the system worked”. He said the perimeter had stopped the alleged attacker from reaching the main hall in April.
But Mr Curran, who was beside Mr Trump when an assassin’s bullet struck the Republican’s ear at a 2024 election rally, said threats against senior US officials were now “off the charts”.
“The threat picture and environment is as large as I’ve ever seen it,” added Mr Curran.
The meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu will take place as the US-Israeli war on Iran reaches its fifth month.
