See Trump’s Reaction as “Wall Street Journal” Accepts Award on Stage Beside Him for Bombshell Epstein Reporting

See Trump’s Reaction as “Wall Street Journal” Accepts Award on Stage Beside Him for Bombshell Epstein Reporting https://ift.tt/OVvJBZm

Trump smiled as a presenter explained how he leaked a reporter’s address at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday, July 24

Donald Trump as the ‘WSJ’ was awarded for its coverage of his relationship with Epstein at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24, 2026
Credit: C-SPAN/YouTube

NEED TO KNOW

• Donald Trump was present as journalists with The Wall Street Journal received an award for reporting on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein
• The Journal reporters received the award for their coverage of Trump and Epstein at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24
• Trump laughed and shrugged as they were presented with the award, and after shaking hands with the journalists

President Donald Trump gave a shrug as journalists received an award for their reporting on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

In a viral moment from the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Friday, July 24, Trump, 80, laughed and shrugged as The Wall Street Journal was honored with the inaugural Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability for its coverage of Trump’s connection to the late sex offender, which led to the release of the Epstein files.

The awkward moment came as CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer presented the award — a $10,000 prize honoring “in-depth investigative and accountability reporting,” per the WHCA website — in front of a crowd of nearly 700 journalists and government officials at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C.

“The Journal’s courageous reporting on President Trump’s past relationship with financier Jeffrey Epstein triggered the release of the so-called ‘Epstein files,’ thousands of documents that might otherwise have remained hidden from the public,” Blitzer, 78, said at the dinner. “And despite the president’s threat of a lawsuit, the Journal published a story about a provocative letter to Epstein bearing Trump’s signature.”

Blitzer then highlighted how the president responded to the Journal’s bombshell July 2025 report, which included leaking the personal information of a reporter, endangering her family.

During this moment, Trump could be seen smiling, laughing and shrugging in C-SPAN footage of the presentation. 

Trump also threw his arms up in the air while saying something, after which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“Trump quickly filed a $20 billion lawsuit against the Journal, revealing reporter Khadeeja Safdar’s home address. Her family had to be relocated. The Journal was kicked off of Air Force One. But the reporters continued to file revelatory stories.” Blitzer continued before welcoming the winners to the stage at the Waldorf Astoria.

The winners of the award named for Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham were the authors of the 2025 report, Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo, as well as the Journal’s Sadie Gurman, Annie Linskey, Josh Dossi, Alex Leary, Rebecca Ballhaus and C. Ryan Barber.

When the reporters took the stage, Trump came face to face with the winning news team and shook their hands before throwing his arms in the air.

Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump in 1997
Credit: Davidoff Studios/Getty

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The rescheduled Correspondents’ Dinner came after the first was cut short by a gunman in April. Friday’s event was an intimate gathering with only one-quarter of the guests as the original dinner and significantly tighter security.

Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to his well-documented friendship with Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a person under 18 for prostitution and died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. 

The release of the full Epstein files was compelled by Congress, which passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act in November 2025. However, files were released in a slow trickle, with some pages heavily redacted of identifying information.