White House Correspondents' Dinner Trump Smiles, Shrugs During Awkward Epstein Moment

Published July 25, 2026 5:07 AM PDT

President Donald Trump couldn't duck these two words -- Jeffrey Epstein -- at Friday night's White House Correspondents' Dinner -- and it made for a seriously awkward moment.

The moment came when CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer announced that The Wall Street Journal had won the 2026 Katharine Graham Award for Courage and Accountability for the newspaper's big scoop on Trump's past relationship with Epstein -- the late convicted pedophile financier.

Waiting for your permission to load the Twitter Tweet.

Trump just smiled and shrugged his shoulders after Blitzer told the crowd the prez had filed a $20 billion lawsuit against The Journal, which included the home address of Khadeeja Safdar -- one of the reporters on the groundbreaking story.

Blitzer also said Safdar's family was forced to relocate as a result of their address going public ... but Trump just brushed it off with a smile. Then, after Safdar accepted her award from Blitzer, Trump stood up and shook her hand, and some would call their interaction awkward -- just see it for yourself above.

Standing at a podium, Blitzer introduced WSJ's investigation into Epstein and his relationship with Trump, as Trump looked on from his seat nearby in the packed ballroom of D.C.'s Waldorf Astoria hotel. Blitzer said the WSJ's reporting triggered the release of the Epstein files, thousands of pages of documents that might have otherwise been concealed from the public.

As you know, Trump previously declared the Epstein Files are a hoax.

Wolf also said the Journal courageously published its story -- despite Trump's threat of a lawsuit -- along with a provocative letter to Epstein allegedly bearing Trump's signature.

As WSJ reported, Epstein was given a photo album for his 50th birthday that contained the letter with a drawing of a naked woman and Trump's purported signature ... you can see it above.

Trump just can't shake Epstein.