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How Trump survives: Battling the media, former allies and assassination attempts

Secret Service cleared the Correspondents' Association dinner after a heavily armed shooter targeted the president

By Howard Kurtz Fox News

Published April 27, 2026 3:00am EDT

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Donald Trump has been written off a thousand times and always managed to bounce back.

He hung on when he first got in the race and was mocked as a sideshow. When the "Access Hollywood" tape came out. When his supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. 

He outlasted two impeachments and four criminal cases. He won reelection when that seemed like a long shot. He’s the Harry Houdini of Washington. 

And on Saturday night, he survived his third assassination attempt. At a dinner that was expected to feature the president mocking the media, his calm response to being targeted by a heavily armed shooter generated enormous sympathy for him. It’s a dangerous job, he said.

THE LEFT'S DEHUMANIZATION OF TRUMP IS PUSHING PEOPLE OVER THE EDGE – WITH DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES

President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after a shooting at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

In fact, he "fought like hell" to continue with the Correspondents' Association dinner, but the Secret Service – one of whose members was shot but saved by a protective vest – insisted on clearing the room. 

At the same time, Trump has such mounting political problems that........

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