A crowd packed with tech executives, media professionals and dignitaries booed President Trump as he departed a private gathering Thursday night at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington — a building that carries the president’s own name.
The jeers on April 23, 2026, came from an audience that included Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, and several CBS News correspondents. These were not protesters or political enemies, but members of media and technology sectors often viewed as increasingly sympathetic to the administration. Yet the frosty sendoff demonstrated that Trump cannot count on a warm reception even in spaces he controls and from crowds he expects to appreciate him.
The incident adds to a mounting series of hostile public encounters Trump has faced throughout his second term and even before taking office again.
A Pattern of Hostile Rooms
Thursday’s reception at the Institute of Peace recalled Trump’s appearance at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington on May 25, 2024, where he was booed and heckled by a raucous audience. That night was punctuated by jeers, scattered cheers from a smaller pro-Trump faction, and one attendee who shouted that Trump “should have taken a bullet.”
Inside the hall a day before Trump’s speech, NBC News reported that one party member proposed the assembly “go tell Donald Trump to go f— himself,” drawing applause. Trump pressed on anyway, telling the crowd, “If I wasn’t a Libertarian before, I sure as hell am a Libertarian now.”
From the Stadium to the State of the Union
On November 9, 2025, Trump attended the Washington Commanders’ game against the Detroit Lions at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland — the first appearance by a sitting president at a regular-season NFL game since Jimmy Carter in 1978. Despite elaborate pageantry that included an Air Force One flyover, a ceremonial military oath of enlistment, and House Speaker Mike Johnson accompanying him in the suite, large sections of fans booed when the videoboard showed Trump late in the first half.
The booing repeated at halftime when the stadium announcer introduced him, and continued as he administered the oath to military members on the field. Videos of the moment spread rapidly online, with one widely shared post calling the scene “brutal” and “humiliating.” Trump left before the game ended.
Three months later, Trump delivered the longest State of the Union address in American history on February 24, 2026, lasting one hour and 47 minutes. The Northwest Progressive Institute described it as a “raw, divisive, ugly” tirade. Around 40 Democrats boycotted entirely, including Senator Patty Murray and approximately half of Washington state’s House delegation. Many organized a People’s State of the Union on the National Mall.
Democrats who attended the address interrupted Trump repeatedly. When Trump claimed, “I ended eight wars,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan shouted back, “That’s a lie.” When Trump said the Russia-Ukraine war “never would have happened if I were president,” Tlaib demanded, “What are you talking about?” Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota interjected over the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, telling the president, “You’ve killed Americans.” Trump responded, “You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
Senator Maria Cantwell, whose guest was Secretary Steve Hobbs, pushed back on Trump’s call to nationalize voting and end mail-in ballots, noting that under the Constitution, states run elections. “There is no role for the president,” she said.
More Boos at the Kennedy Center
President Trump and the first lady heard both cheers and boos when they appeared in the presidential box for opening night of “Chicago” at the Kennedy Center on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. White House spokesperson Liz Huston claimed Trump was “warmly welcomed by the crowd,” but video footage posted online documented clear jeering mixed with applause. The venue, which Trump renamed the Trump-Kennedy Center after taking control last year, is slated to close in July for a two-year renovation.
Eugene Ramirez, a former Sinclair national news anchor, told the Washington Blade he was briefly detained by security that evening after booing and giving the president a thumbs-down. According to Ramirez, a security official told him, “They don’t want booing,” and kept him in a separate area until the house lights dimmed before allowing him to return to his seat.
That March incident mirrored Trump’s June 2025 appearance at the Kennedy Center for the opening night of “Les Misérables,” where he also faced mixed cheers and protests. The responses reflect wider opposition to his Kennedy Center takeover, which has triggered waves of artist cancellations and continuing legal battles over the renaming and the planned closure.
The Institute of Peace event was meant to be friendlier ground than a stadium or a libertarian floor fight. Ellison’s presence reflected Silicon Valley’s warming posture toward the administration. Weiss, recently installed atop CBS News, represented a media establishment that Trump allies have argued is realigning.
The boos suggested otherwise — that even rooms designed to flatter the president can turn, and that the gap between staged adulation and unscripted reaction continues to widen as the 2026 midterms approach.
