President Donald Trump: The 2026 60 Minutes Interview

Assassination Attempt at White House Correspondents Dinner00:01

Last night in Washington D.C., a gunman stormed the security perimeter at the White House Correspondents Dinner. The president, first lady, vice president, cabinet members, and over 2,500 guests were gathered to celebrate the First Amendment and freedom of the press. Shots were fired, and the president was evacuated. This occurred at the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan was nearly assassinated by John Hinckley 45 years ago.

Federal investigators are examining the motive of the alleged gunman, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California. He emailed a manifesto to his family minutes before the attack, stating he was targeting members of the Trump administration.

President's Initial Reaction to Gunman and Manifesto01:00

Mr. President, do you know if you were the target?

I don't know. It sounded to me I read a manifesto just he's radicalized. He was a Christian believer and then he became an anti-Christian and he had a lot of change. He's been going through a lot based on what he wrote. His brother complained about him and I think reported him to the police and his sister likewise complained about him. His family was very concerned. He was probably a pretty sick guy.

Reporter was in the room not far from the president, heard gunshots or commotion, people nearby smelled gunpowder, and everyone hit the floor.

How worried were you that there were going to be injuries?

I wasn't worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world.

Moment Shots Were Fired and First Lady's Reaction02:01

The president was sitting next to the first lady while entertainer O Pearlman, known as the mentalist, was talking. The press secretary, who is expecting, was being asked to guess her baby's name.

When did you know something was wrong?

The first lady's face looked very alarmed. She realized it was a bullet rather than a tray dropping.

Well, I don't want to say. And people don't like having it said that they were scared, but certainly, I mean, who wouldn't be when you have a situation like that?

Security moved quickly: grabbed the vice president by his coat and lifted him out. Counter assault team flanked the president in 10 seconds and got him out in 20 seconds. The president wanted to see what was happening, slowing the agents slightly.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Let me see. Wait a minute.

He started walking out, then agents said "Please go down to the floor." He and the first lady dropped to the floor halfway to safety, then got up and went to a hold room. He tried to get them to continue the event.

President's Thoughts During Evacuation05:00

My thought was, you know, I've been through this before a couple of times and she has not to this extent. She handled it great. I mean, she was she's very strong, smart. She got it. She knew what was happening. She listened. I did, too, by the way. This was the first time she when they said drop down, that meant trouble. And obviously, I'm the president. And I listened to what they said. Please drop down, sir. Please drop down.

Gunman's Breach and Security Response06:01

The gunman ran through metal detectors, fired one or two rounds, and moved at incredible speed, like a blur, covering 45 yards.

How did he get that close with the place swarming with security?

I will say, look, I say it because I'm a big fan of the people of law enforcement. And you know, some of these people, they may be crazy, but they're not stupid and they figure things out. He ran 45 yards, they say, and he just went to it and then boom, he popped through it. I mean, he ran like I think the NFL should sign him up. He was fast. But it was amazing because as soon as they saw that, you could see them draw their guns. They were so professional, aim their guns, and then they took them down immediately.

Post-Event Briefing and Relationship with Press07:02

Two hours later, the president was back at the White House briefing reporters, describing a totally unified room, which was beautiful.

Do you think this will change your relationship with the press?

Well, look, for whatever reason, we disagree on a lot of subjects. We talk about crime. I'm very strong on crime. It seems like the press isn't. It's not so much the press, it's the press plus the Democrats because they're almost one and the same. I have the strongest border we've ever had in the country. Zero people for nine months came into our country through our southern border. We have a very tough border.

Manifesto Details and President's Response

The manifesto references: "Administration officials, they are targets." And "I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes."

Well, I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you're horrible people. Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I'm not a rapist. I didn't rape anybody. I'm not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person. I got associated with all stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let's say, Epstein or other things. But you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I'm not any of those things. You shouldn't be reading that on 60 Minutes. You're a disgrace. But go ahead. Let's finish the interview.

The gunman had been staying at the hotel since Friday, cased the place, and wrote: "What the hell is the Secret Service doing?" Expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo. "This level of incompetence is insane."

He was pretty incompetent, too, because he got caught and he got caught pretty easily. So, I'd say he was pretty incompetent, too. Those guys did a good job last night. They did a really good job.

He had social media with anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric, part of Wide Awakes group, attended No Kings protest in California.

Political Violence and Attendees10:02

Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his sister Carrie Kennedy were there; both witnessed their father and uncle assassinated. Erica Kirk and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise were present.

Is there something that you as president can do? What can be done to change the trajectory?

You know, you go back 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years. It's always been there. People are assassinated. People are injured. People are hurt. And I'm not sure that any more now than there was. I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats, much more so, is very dangerous. I really think it's very dangerous for the country.

Future of the Event and Commitment to Press Freedom11:01

President hopes to move events like this to the new East Wing Ballroom, ahead of schedule but not ready until 2028. Wants last night's dinner rescheduled much sooner.

I want them because I don't want to see it be cancelled. I don't want to have a crazy person. I think it's really bad for a crazy person to be able to cancel something like this. There are great people in the press, too. ... But for the most part, it's a very liberal or very progressive, let's use the word liberal, liberal press. I was really happy to see the relationship, the friendship, the spirit after a very bad event took place. Now, the event turned out to be much less bad because nobody was killed. Nobody was hurt.

A Secret Service agent wore a bulletproof vest and is 100% okay, didn't want to go to the hospital but did.

Norura, tell them to get it going and we should do it within 30 days and they'll have even more security and they'll have bigger perimeter security. It'll be fine, but tell them to do it again. We can't let something be ... It's not that I want to go. I'm very busy. I don't need that. I think it's very important that they do it again.