RIP

WASHINGTON — President Trump was preparing to take the stage at the White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner Saturday night, eager — by his own account — to “let it rip” before a room of Washington’s elite and reporters he has spent years calling the enemy of the people.

Then shots were heard. Secret Service agents rushed him off the stage. And within hours, the president was at the White House calling for unity, offering overtures to a press corps that he had long clashed with.

“I just want to say you did a fantastic job, what a beautiful evening and we are going to reschedule,” Trump told Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Assn., at a news briefing after the shooting at the dinner.

His magnanimity did not last long. On Sunday night, sitting down for an interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS’ “60 Minutes,” Trump reacted with fury to her reading of the suspected shooter’s manifesto, calling her a “disgrace.”

The manifesto characterized his targets as rapists and pedophiles.

“You’re horrible people. Horrible people,” Trump said. “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,” he added. “You should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”

It marked a return to the familiar dynamic between the president and the press after a night of shared crisis and purpose — raising doubts about how long the goodwill would last.

Just hours before, at the briefing, Trump expressed dismay at the violent outburst at the Washington Hilton, where the black-tie event has been held for more than 50 years.

“I will tell you, I fought like hell to stay, but it was protocol,” the president said. On Sunday he repeated his desire to reschedule the event, telling Fox News that he is committed to attending it in the near future, even proposing to do it within 30 days.

Trump appeared to be enjoying himself moments before Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old tutor from Torrance, allegedly ran past a security checkpoint at the hotel and fired off two shots. Oz Pearlman, a mentalist and the entertainer for the night, seemed to be doing a trick for the president and the first lady when the shots were fired, videos show.

Trump was preparing to deliver remarks at the end of the night. His team was excited about it, and the president had been making tweaks to his speech on Air Force One up until Saturday morning.

“It will be funny. It will be entertaining,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a red carpet event ahead of the dinner.

The speech was going to mark Trump’s first at the White House correspondents’ dinner. He told Fox News on Sunday that he was “really going to let it rip,” and that he had considered the moment an “important event” until it came to a halt.

Trump said he would like to reschedule the event within the next month, adding that he will make an “entirely different speech” — one that he said will be focused on “love.”

It is unclear how long Trump’s media-friendly tone will last, but some Republicans continued to blame reporters for the violent act. Kari Lake, the senior advisor to the U.S. Agency for Global Media, said some reporters attending the event “have spent a decade spreading absolute lies” about Trump.

Trump, for his part, used the security breach at the event to make the case for his White House ballroom project, claiming that the Washington Hilton is “not a particularly secure building” and is a prime example of why legal challenges holding up its construction need to be dismissed.

“We need the ballroom,” Trump told reporters. “Today, we need levels of security that probably nobody’s ever seen before.”

However, the annual dinner’s venue is picked not by the White House, but by the White House Correspondents’ Assn., an independent organization of journalists who cover the president.

Trump has vowed to return to the event in the near future, and has called for it to take place within the next month to show that “bad people” cannot “change the course of the country.” But the ballroom project could not be ready that quickly.

It remains under construction and “ahead of schedule,” Trump has said. Earlier this month, a federal appeals court allowed construction on the project to continue through early June, as legal challenges remain ongoing.

The construction of the $400-million ballroom on the White House grounds has come under searing scrutiny. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year to stop the project, has argued that Trump lacked authority to make architectural changes to the White House grounds.

Carol Quillen, president and chief executive of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has argued the White House is “the most evocative building in our country” and any changes should go through a review process, including a public comment period. Trump on Sunday described the lawsuit as one brought by a “woman walking a dog.”

The attempted attack, which marks the third time in less than two years that Trump has faced the threat of a gunman, has reignited questions about the tense political environment besetting the United States.

Trump, for his part, called his job a “dangerous profession” and said he believed he has become the target of attacks because of his presidency’s own consequence.

“The people that do the most, the people that make the biggest impact, they are the people that they go after,” Trump told reporters at the White House after being rushed out of the hotel.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, he added: “If you’re a consequential president, you’re in much more danger than if you’re not a consequential president.”

As an example, Trump pointed to his war in Iran, a conflict that recent polling shows has contributed to his approval rating falling to around 40%. The president said the war “should’ve been done by previous presidents … but nobody did anything about it.”

At Saturday night’s dinner, people infiltrated the hotel to protest the Iran war and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Two demonstrators, wearing suits, crashed a red carpet photo shoot in the hotel lobby and called for Hegseth to be arrested for war crimes, underscoring how the foreign conflict is fueling the political rhetoric at home.

In the hours after the shooting, Trump remained defiant. In an interview, he said he was determined to show a unified front and not let “one nut” derail his agenda or events.

“I hate it when a sick, bad person,” he told Fox News on Sunday. “I hate someone like that changing the course of our country.”

ONE of Newcastle’s most legendary bars closed its doors to customers earlier this year, signalling the end of an era for a part of the city’s much celebrated nightlife.

Anyone who’s been for a night out in the Toon in the last 20 years or so will have likely ventured down the dark staircase of Mushroom, before sticking to its practically adhesive floor.

Mushroom was a prime spot for people to enjoy a dance and some cheap drinks before moving on to one of the many clubs elsewhere in the city.

And a visit was never complete without drinking a pint of its famous sickly sweet Skittles.

The handful of recipes available online for this sugary concoction aren’t completely in agreement about its ingredients.

But it’s generally accepted that it contained at least two shots of vodka, some blue curaçao, then either a shot of peach schnapps or Taboo (a fruity 14.9 per cent vodka-based drink), all chucked in a pint glass with orange and lemonade filling it to the brim.

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Whether or not Mushroom actually invented the drink remains up for debate, with other bars joining it on the Skittles bandwagon, but it was always known as “the home of Skittles” leaving no question about its spiritual residence, with the venue selling little else to its punters on a night out.

Earlier this year, it finally closed its doors after 23 years with a 14-hour long farewell party, reportedly attended by as many as 5,000 people, with local DJs performing throughout the night.

Nevertheless, Newcastle’s nightlife is much more than just one bar – here are 10 reasons why it’s still the best city in the country for an evening out.

One of the country’s cheapest pints

According to figures released at the end of last year, a pint in Newcastle is cheaper than most big cities in the UK.

Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Belfast, Bath, Bristol and of course London were all among those whose average pint prices exceeded Newcastle’s fairly reasonable £5.28, according to financial information provider Finder.

That price is below the national average of £5.50, making a night out in Newcastle more affordable than many others.

Home of the Diamond Strip

Collingwood Street was bestowed its ‘Diamond Strip’ nickname because of its high concentration of luxury bars and nightclubs, all close to one another.

Popular with stag and hen dos, and with celebrities, the likes of Tup Tup Palace, Tokyo, Soho Rooms, ChachaBuchi, Mimo, Manhatta, Vampire Rabbit and others are all within a stone’s throw of each other, making a high-end bar crawl very easy to accomplish.

Fans of reality series Geordie Shore will definitely recognise some of these establishments from the show, and may well end up in an episode if they time their visit right.

Ouseburn Valley

Newcastle isn’t just a place for crazy nights out, cheap trebles and drinking shots with celebs. It also has more than its fair share of relaxing pubs, perfect for whiling away an evening with a couple of pints.

Undoubtedly the best place to do that is the Ouseburn Valley, with historic boozers like the Cumberland Arms, the Tyne Bar and the Ship making for a fantastic pub crawl away from the craziness of the city centre.

The jewel in the crown of the Ouseburn is the Free Trade, which offers one of the best views of the Tyne you’ll find anywhere in the city, be it from its wonderful beer garden, or the stools next to its giant windows.

For more in the UK – here are our favourite hotels in the country from Manchester to Cambridge…

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Margate House, Kent

This stylish boutique hotel is in a seaside townhouse, a short walk from Margate’s coolest bars and restaurants. Decked out with plush velvet sofas, candles flickering and striking independent art, inside feels like a warm welcome home. Rooms are stunning, especially the ones that give you a glimpse of the sea.

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The Alan, Manchester

The Alan looks extremely grand, being built into a beautiful Grade II listed building. Spread across six floors, with 137 rooms, each one looks like a fancy design magazine. From the concrete coffee tables to the pink plastered walls, the industrial-inspired designs perfectly replicate the history of the city.

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The Queen at Chester Hotel

This historic hotel has welcomed the likes of Charles Dickens and Lillie Langtry through its doors. Rooms have richly-patterned carpets with super soft bed linen and premium toiletries in the bathroom. Go for a superior room for extra goodies including bathrobes and snack boxes.

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The University Arms Hotel, Cambridge

This Cambridge hotel is in the ideal spot, within walking distance to bars, shops and hotspots like the university colleges and Parker’s Piece. The inside couldn’t be prettier, with huge stained glass windows, grand chandeliers, and rooms with enormous clawfoot bath tubs.

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Breweries, breweries, breweries

Beer enthusiasts can spread themselves beyond the Ouseburn Valley into the many breweries and tap rooms that have opened across Newcastle, with the city offering a wide selection of options for those into the craft beer scene.

Donzoko Brewery and Tap Room is a unique little brewery near the Ouseburn, serving a range of lagers and ales as well as bar snacks.

Other well-regarded breweries include the Anarchy Brew Co and the Wylam Brewery, which is housed in the impressive Palace of Arts building in Exhibition Park and regularly hosts gigs, live comedy and food-related events, like battle of the burger and slice wars.

Gordon Ramsay’s Favourite Curry

Kicking off the night with something good to eat is simple in Newcastle, with a fantastic array of restaurants spread throughout the city, catering to all tastes.

However, one of its best-loved eateries is Khai Khai, which has served everyone from local royalty like Alan Shearer to Hollywood A-listers like Harrison Ford.

Meanwhile, globally renowned chef Gordon Ramsay once described his meal there as “one of the best curries in my entire life, that took me back to being in Mumbai and Rajasthan.”

24 Hour Greggs

When it comes to food at the end of the evening, Newcastle has got revellers well covered as well, with one of the city’s most famous exports open all hours.

The first ever branch of Greggs was opened in nearby Gosforth in 1951 and now two of the city’s 21 branches have 24-hour licences, meaning party-goers can treat themselves to a steak bake or sausage roll instead of the classic kebab after their night out.

The city also has some unique versions of the beloved bakery, including one in its branch of Primark.

Music Venues and Strong Local Music Scene

For live music enthusiasts there’s a fantastic local music scene to explore, with venues big and small hosting everyone from local up-and-comers to global superstars.

Smaller venues like the Head of Steam opposite the train station showcase the next generation of musical talent, while the Cluny in the Ouseburn Valley regularly hosts established names.

Elsewhere, the City Hall and Utilita Arena are your go-to spots for bigger names, while Newcastle United’s football stadium St James’ Park has been known to host blockbuster gigs as well.

With a scene that has produced the likes of Sam Fender in recent years, going to the smaller venues might be worth your while if you want to catch the next wave of talent before it hits the big time.

Big Football Nights

With Newcastle United’s return to the Champions League in recent seasons, huge European nights are finally back in the city.

Global superstars like Kylian Mbappe, Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele have all turned up for big games at St James’ in the last two years, providing wonderful nights of entertainment for sports fans.

Head to Toon fans’ favourite pub The Strawberry before kick-off to get a taste of authentic Geordie atmosphere before taking in the game among 50 thousand supporters – an experience truly like no other.

Friendly locals

A night out is rarely good because of where you are – it’s much more about who you’re with. Luckily, in Newcastle, both location and company are well covered.

Geordies are regularly named among the most welcoming people in online polls and surveys, while travel publications like Big 7 Travel have also praised the Toon’s locals in recent years, naming it the country’s friendliest city in 2024.

In fact, train company Lumo once revealed that the Geordie accent is the most likely to put a smile on someone’s face, beating other popular regional accents like Yorkshire, Scouse, Cockney and Glaswegian to top spot.

Set off from Newcastle, wake up in Amsterdam

One of the best nights out in Newcastle doesn’t actually take place in the city at all. However, it does start there.

Overnight ferries run from the toon to Amsterdam, and there’s little else to do on board other than make the most of its bar and nightclub.

Make friends with your shipmates, bond over a bottle or two, then head to your cabin before waking up in another of Europe’s greatest party destinations to continue the celebrations.

For more UK breaks, check out 11 of the best English towns for a day trip this Easter from historic markets to trendy seasides.

And one man who travelled across the UK to find bucket list journeys reveals his favourites from seaside walks to scenic train rides.