Just one day after praising journalists who survived a mass shooting alongside him, President Trump branded CBS News anchor Norah O’Donnell “a disgrace” during a combative “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday, April 26, 2026.
The president exploded at O’Donnell when she began reading excerpts from a manifesto that suspect Cole Tomas Allen had emailed to family members minutes before attacking the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. The writings apparently referenced allegations of sexual assault, pedophilia and treason against Trump.
“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump said, before adding, “Yeah, he did write that.” He then declared, “I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
Trump didn’t stop there. He accused O’Donnell of recycling “crap from some sick person” and told her she should be “ashamed” of herself. “You shouldn’t be reading that on ’60 Minutes.’ You’re a disgrace,” Trump said, according to video of the heated exchange.
The outburst marked a stunning reversal from the conciliatory stance Trump had adopted just hours earlier toward the press corps. During a late-night White House news conference Saturday, the president had offered unusual praise for reporters and admitted it would have been inappropriate to deliver his prepared speech mocking journalists after they had just endured gunfire.
A Night Of Gunfire And Evacuation
On Saturday, April 25, 2026, a gunman charged the security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where the president, first lady, Vice President JD Vance, Cabinet members and more than 2,500 guests had gathered to celebrate the First Amendment and the freedom of the press.
Shots rang out as entertainer Oz Pearlman, known as The Mentalist, was on stage guessing the name of the baby that Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is expecting. Weijia Jiang of CBS News, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, was steering the program when the room erupted. Security grabbed Vance by the coat and lifted him within seconds. A counter assault team flanked Trump within 10 seconds. He was evacuated within 20.
The harrowing incident unfolded at the same hotel where President Ronald Reagan was nearly assassinated by John Hinckley Jr. 45 years ago — a coincidence that hung over the building for the rest of the night.
Inside The Shooter’s Writings
Federal investigators continue piecing together what motivated the alleged gunman, a 31-year-old teacher and engineer from Torrance, California, who has also been described as a tutor and video game developer. A senior official described the email Allen sent to family members and a former employer as a “manifesto” stating he was targeting members of the Trump administration.
Trump characterized Allen as a deeply troubled man whose family had attempted to sound alarms. The shooter’s brother had complained about him and reportedly reported him to police, and his sister also voiced concerns. The gunman had transformed from a Christian believer into someone who had turned anti-Christian, Trump said, and was “probably a pretty sick guy.”
The president sidestepped O’Donnell’s attempt to establish whether he believed the gunman was definitely targeting him, noting that the manifesto never mentioned Trump by name. Instead, Trump made the interview itself the focal point of his anger.
A Brief Truce With The Press
Trump carried that warmer posture into the start of the “60 Minutes” interview the next afternoon at the White House, suggesting that surviving the attack alongside journalists might forge a new understanding.
“We have some great people in the press, some very fair people, and people that are just on my side,” Trump said. “I was really happy to see the — I don’t know how long it’ll last — the relationship, the friendship, the spirit after a very bad event took place.”
That goodwill, by his own prediction, did not last long.
Asked whether he feared for his safety as gunfire echoed through the ballroom, Trump told CBS News he “wasn’t worried.” He suggested the first lady, sitting beside him, had grasped the danger before he did, recognizing the sound as gunfire rather than a dropped tray.
But it was the section of the interview dealing with Allen’s manifesto — and its apparent allusion to longstanding allegations against Trump — that detonated the conversation. The rapid pivot from praising reporters to savaging O’Donnell reinforced what veteran observers of Trump’s relationship with the press have long suspected: that any ceasefire, no matter how heartfelt at the moment, exists on borrowed time. By Sunday evening, the bridges Trump had spoken about building less than 24 hours earlier appeared, at least with one network correspondent, already smoldering.