An Assassination Attempt and a Royal Visit to Washington
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
The New Yorker
4.3 • 3.9K Ratings
🗓️ 30 April 2026
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The New Yorker staff writer Antonia Hitchens joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss a surreal week in Washington: the attempted assassination of Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, followed days later by a state visit from King Charles III and Queen Camilla. They talk about what Hitchens witnessed inside the Hilton ballroom during the shooting attempt, and how Washington responded in the days that followed. They also discuss the state of the “special relationship” between the United States and the United Kingdom, how Trump embraced the pageantry of the royal visit, and what King Charles’s trip was meant to signal diplomatically. They also explore what the week’s whiplash reveals about covering politics during the second Trump term.
This week’s reading:
- “D.C. Gets a King It Actually Wants,” by Antonia Hitchens
- “Inside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as Gunshots Rang Out,” by Antonia Hitchens
- “Can the E.P.A. Survive Lee Zeldin?,” by Elizabeth Kolbert
- “The Kirkification of Our Troubled Times,” by Brady Brickner-Wood
- “Donald Trump’s Lose-Lose Negotiations with Iran,” by Isaac Chotiner
See the Washington Roundtable live at 92NY on June 4th.
The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week.
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| 0:00.0 | If you're a fan of the political scene podcast from The New Yorker, I hope you'll join us for a live taping of the show at 92 NY in Manhattan. |
| 0:09.3 | We're going to be talking about Donald Trump's falling approval numbers, the prospects of a comeback for the Democratic Party in the midterms. |
| 0:18.5 | And let's just say the potential threats to the integrity of the election that are coming from the president. |
| 0:25.1 | I hope you'll join me, Evan Osnos, and my colleagues Susan Glasser and Jane Mayer on June 4th at 7 p.m. |
| 0:32.3 | Ticket information is at 92NY.org. |
| 0:44.0 | Thank you. is at 92NY.org. It's almost become cliche to say that it was a surreal week in Washington, but this week |
| 0:49.9 | I think we can actually say it. |
| 0:52.0 | There was a shooting attempt at the White House Correspondence Dinner, which cast a shadow |
| 0:56.1 | over what's usually one of the Capitol's more light-hearted rituals. |
| 0:59.7 | And then, a couple days later, came the pageantry, a state visit from King Charles III |
| 1:04.7 | and Queen Camilla, complete with the King gifting Trump a British World War II relic with his |
| 1:10.0 | name on it, a bell from the HMS Trump. |
| 1:13.2 | All of this, of course, while relations between the U.S. and the UK are dismal, to say the least. |
| 1:18.8 | Today I'm talking with Antonia Hitchens, a staff writer for the New Yorker who lives in D.C. and covers politics, |
| 1:24.3 | to try and make sense of a week that was both theatrical and genuinely frightening, |
| 1:28.9 | all while being oddly revealing about power, perception, and the strange rhythms of political life |
| 1:34.6 | during the second Trump era. This is the political scene. I'm Tyler Foggett, and I'm a senior |
| 1:39.2 | editor at The New Yorker. |
| 1:43.4 | Hi, Antonia. Hi, Tyler. |
| 1:45.0 | Thanks for having me. |
| 1:46.0 | Yeah, thanks so much for being here. |
| 1:48.0 | So you were covering the White House Correspondence Dinner and you were in the room during the |
... |
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