White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of the most powerful city in the world — Washington, D.C. — and those who cover it.

Keith Urban Headlines Uber’s America 250 Celebration in Washington, DC 

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Hosted at the Smithsonian American Art Museum Kogod Courtyard, the evening featured remarks from CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on his path to America from Iran before a special performance celebrating America’s 250th birthday, while supporting MADD’s mission to end impaired driving. 

Secretary Sean Duffy, Jill Hazelbaker Franks and Dara Khosrowshahi
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 02: (L-R) Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Uber President Jill Hazelbaker Franks, and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi at the Uber America250 Party on July 02, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Uber)

Grammy Award-winning country music star Keith Urban and his band performed for over an hour with the crowd dancing and singing along. There were multiple Trump Administration officials including Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, VA Secretary Doug Collins, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, HHS nominee Chris Klomp, White House adviser Alex Flemister and DoT’s Seval Oz. House members included House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) and Rep. Bob Onder (R-Mo.). 

Keith Urban greets his excited fans at the Uber America 250 party on July 2, 2026

Uber President Jill Hazelbaker Franks welcomed guests including Stacey Stewart, CEO of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) who thanked supporters for helping advance the organization’s mission to eliminate impaired driving. The celebration brought together leaders from government, business, media, and philanthropy for an evening honoring America’s past while looking ahead to its next 250 years of innovation, opportunity, and safer roads. Guests took photos at the wall size American Flag made of cars. 

Tech CEOs included Julie Sweet (Accenture) and Chad Sweet (Chertoff), Rene Haas, (Arm Holdings), Arun Gupta, (Noble Reach Foundation), and Kristin Sharp, (Flex Foundation).

Guests included former Uber executive Rachel Holt, Jimmy Sapp, Javier Correoso, Spencer Silverman, Alberto Martinez, Matt Gorman, Katelyn Bledsoe, Brittany Punaro, Dan Meyers, James Van Den Berg, Karalee Geis, Chris Russo, Kaily Grabemann, Colin Moneymaker, Aaron Lukas and Steve Clemons.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 02: Dara Khosrowshahi speaks during the Uber America250 Party on July 02, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Uber)

Media was well represented with Josh Dawsey (WSJ), Marisa Schultz (NYPost), Ted Johnson (Deadline), Sumi Somaskanda (BBC), Liz Claman (Fox Business), Rick Klein (ABC News), Christine Brennan (ABC Sports), 

DC Media and Politicos Welcome Back Jill Hazelbaker

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Uber execs Todd Bowers, Megan Capiak, Crysten Glawe, Dave Barmore with the milkshake man from Captain Cookie and the Milkman Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

Uber execs Todd Bowers, Megan Capiak, Crysten Glawe, Dave Barmore with the milkshake man from Captain Cookie and the Milkman, one of UberEATS’ most popular delivery places, Photo Courtesy of Haddad Media

Friends and colleagues gathered Tuesday night, September 13, to welcome Jill Hazelbaker, one of their own, back to Washington DC. Hazelbaker is currently Senior VP of Public Policy and Communications at Uber after longtime executive positions at SnapChat and Google. Hazelbaker had previously served as an aide to Sen. John McCain. Politicos, media, and techies gathered in the backyard of Tammy Haddad, the former site at the White House Correspondents’ Garden Brunch, to catch up with Jill and enjoy food from UberEATS vendors.

Jill Hazelbaker, Michelle Lee, Niki Christoff, Cecilia Kang

Jill Hazelbaker, Michelle Lee, Niki Christoff, Cecilia Kang at Uber EATS Dinner

Among the guests were Greta Van Susteren, recently departed from FOX, and her husband John Coale. Guests like Facebook’s Erin Egan were talking about the 4 million viewers Susteren had from her most recent Facebook post. The link to Greta’s post is here.

Guests from the White House included Shailagh Murray, Deesha Dyer and Kirby Bumpus. Marty Baron, Editor of Washington Post was seen talking to former employee Cecilia Kang, now with the New York Times. Her colleague Jeremy Peters, Rick Klein, Betsy Fischer Martin, Robin Sproul, Kevin Cirilli and Craig Gordon rounded out the political journalists.  Hill favorites Heather Podesta, Juleanna Glover, Kimberley Fritts and Ron Bonjean were on hand.  Four Seasons Women Breakfast Club members Carol Melton, DeDe Lea were also in attendance.

Food for the gathering was provided by a variety of UberEATS vendors such as Mason Dixie Biscuit Co., Captain Cookie and the Milkman, Zombie Donuts, Ghibellina, Chaia, Hill Country BBQ, Buredo,  and The Chickery.