Topline
President Donald Trump said he would attend and speak at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner, now set to take place on July 24 with enhanced security measures, after the April event was disrupted by a gunman.
Trump said he may “give the same rather nasty statements” at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Trump confirmed in a Tuesday afternoon post on Truth Social he accepted an invitation from Weijia Jiang, a CBS News reporter and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, to attend and speak at the rescheduled dinner.
Trump said he does not yet know “whether or not I will give the same rather nasty statements, at least as it concerns certain people, but we will soon find out,” saying the event will be “a ‘HOT’ ticket!”
The White House Correspondents’ Association announced earlier Tuesday afternoon the rescheduled dinner would take place in July, with Jiang saying the association “will not allow an act of violence to have the last word.”
April’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner ended abruptly after a gunman, suspected to be 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, stormed a security checkpoint and exchanged fire with Secret Service agents.
Trump, in his post on Tuesday, acknowledged the April event “violently ended rather abruptly,” saying the rescheduled dinner will be a “sign of Strength and Fortitude” and that “we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life.”
What Do We Know About The Rescheduled Dinner?
Jiang confirmed the date of the dinner’s rescheduling in a message to WHCA members earlier Tuesday, though other details remained scant. Jiang’s message did not share the location of the rescheduled event, but Trump’s Truth Social post says the event will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. (formerly a Trump-branded hotel), breaking from its traditional location at the Washington Hilton. “Rescheduling was not automatic,” Jiang said, noting the decision to reschedule was made after “thoughtful consideration and input from our members.” Jiang said the rescheduled dinner will be a “more intimate gathering” with “significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures,” which will be shared at a later date.
Key Background
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April ended in a panic after a gunman stormed a security checkpoint, prompting an exchange of fire with Secret Service agents. Trump and top administration officials were quickly evacuated from the event, and it ended without speeches or awards given. Allen, the suspected gunman, was taken into custody and charged by the Justice Department with attempting to assassinate Trump, assaulting a Secret Service agent and other weapons charges. According to a manifesto federal authorities say is Allen’s, he referred to himself as a “friendly federal assassin” and mocked the dinner’s allegedly lax security. “I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo,” the note says, adding, “What I got (who knows, maybe they’re pranking me!) is nothing.” Allen pleaded not guilty to all charges in May, and he has a hearing scheduled for later this month.
Tangent
Shortly after the shooting, Trump advocated for rescheduling the dinner and used it to justify the need for a White House ballroom. “This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,” Trump said on Truth Social the day after the shooting, adding, “It cannot be built fast enough!”
Further Reading
Trump uses the correspondents’ dinner shooting to renew his White House ballroom push (NBC News)
Suspect Reportedly Mocked Security Measures Before White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting (Forbes)