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Trump reveals a 'big politician on the other side' asked to hug him after dinner shooting
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President Donald Trump revealed during an interview on Sunday that people who "can't stand" him approached him asking for hand shakes and even a hug after the shooting chaos.
President Donald Trump revealed Sunday during an interview on "60 Minutes" that a Democrat asked to hug him in the aftermath of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting.
The president told CBS' Norah O'Donnell that he was going to hit the press "really hard, with humor" in his speech at the dinner, which didn't occur due to the shooting, as the event was set to be rescheduled. He said he still wanted to deliver the speech, but he couldn't due to security concerns, and said he would have had to just get up there and say, "'I love you all.'"
"There was love in the room. It was amazing. There was love in the room," Trump told O'Donnell.
"People came together. Democrats that truly can't stand me were saying, 'Sir, could I just shake your hand?' I mean, I'm, I'm leaving, and I'm seeing people, you know, high-level people, and they're saying, 'Sir, great job,'" Trump said.
President Donald Trump attends the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2026. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg)
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Trump also told O'Donnell that they probably had the clip somewhere of the Democrat who asked for a hug.
"One of 'em said, 'Could I hug you?'" Trump said, with a laugh. "A big politician on the other side. There was love. It just all came together. It was very amazing to see. It was a very beautiful thing, at a non-beautiful moment, really. But it was a very beautiful thing that was happening."
An assailant rushed a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton Saturday night, shooting a Secret Service officer, who was hit in his bulletproof vest and survived. The suspect, Cole Allen, was apprehended and has been charged with multiple felonies. The gunfire led to Trump and the Cabinet at the dinner being evacuated, and the dinner will be rescheduled.
President Donald Trump revealed Sunday during an interview on "60 Minutes" that a Democrat asked to hug him in the aftermath of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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During a press conference that followed the shooting, Trump gave rare praise to the press.
"This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press, and in a certain way it did, because the fact that they just unified," Trump said at the briefing on Saturday. "I saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful, a very beautiful thing to see."
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Trump's comments came after he confirmed that the dinner would be canceled in accordance with security protocol despite how he "fought like hell" to have it continue. He reiterated his intention to have the event rescheduled within the next month.
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Fox News' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
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