US President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due in the United States next week, confirming a visit that will bring the two leaders together in Washington.
Mr Netanyahu’s office had earlier announced that he would arrive in Washington DC on Monday and sit down with Mr Trump on Tuesday.
The Israeli leader is also expected to attend the funeral of deceased US Senator Lindsey Graham, according to his office.
Mr Trump made the remarks during a rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, held three months after an assassination attempt derailed the original event.
“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 comparatively measured note, recalling the moment in April when a gunman’s attack forced agents to rush him out of the dinner.
“The show must go on,” he said.
That restraint did not last long. Mr Trump soon turned the evening into a broadside against familiar targets, beginning with the journalists in the ballroom before shifting toward Democratic rivals in a sprawling, often meandering address.
The media gala took place at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington DC
Earlier in the night, Mr Trump laughed and lifted his hands in mock surrender while greeting a Wall Street Journal team whose reporting examined his connections to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Later, after reporters collected awards 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 idea of a third term, something the US constitution forbids, while saying the remarks were made in jest.
“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 then pressed the bit 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 tosses his ‘TRUMP 2028’ hat to an attendee
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 use of the word Palestinian in reference to Mr Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, saying he deploys it disrespectfully as a slur and an insult.
Much of the speech carried the cadence of Mr Trump’s campaign rallies, with the president at one point playfully scolding his speech writers when jokes failed to land.
Still, he closed the hour-long appearance by telling the journalists before him that he had “tremendous respect” for their work, then added: “When I’m gone, you’re all going to be broke.”
Bad blood
Mr Trump, appearing at his first White House Correspondents Dinner after years of open hostility with the press, said he intended to return again next year.
His appearance came under tightened security, three months after an alleged assassination attempt sent the previous event into chaos when gunfire erupted 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 troops blocked surrounding streets and established a broad security perimeter, though guests entering the event encountered only a brief screening.
Organisers moved the dinner from the Hilton to the Waldorf Astoria, a former Trump hotel, making the gathering 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 also led the earlier 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 return to the Washington Hilton next year.
‘Threat picture’
US Secret Service Director Sean Curran was seen in the entrance hall watching guests arrive, an AFP reporter observed.
Attendees queued for an extended period to present a QR code and identification before entering the atrium where the dinner was staged.
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, who leads the Secret Service, defended the security operation at the original event, telling reporters, “It did work, the system worked”. He said a protective perimeter had stopped the alleged attacker from reaching the main hall in April.
Mr Curran, who stood beside Mr Trump when an assassin’s bullet struck the Republican’s ear during a 2024 election rally, said threats against senior US officials had climbed to levels that were “off the charts”.
“The threat picture and environment is as large as I’ve ever seen it,” added Mr Curran.
The Trump-Netanyahu meeting is set to take place as the US-Israeli war on Iran enters its fifth month.
