President Donald Trump announced this week that he will attend a rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, months after the original event was violently disrupted by an alleged assassination attempt that stunned Washington and forced an emergency evacuation of the president and other top officials.
The White House Correspondents’ Association revealed Tuesday that it plans to hold a second dinner on July 24 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. The decision comes after the annual event on April 25 ended abruptly when gunfire erupted while more than 2,000 journalists, government officials, and guests were gathered inside the venue.
Secret Service agents immediately moved Trump and senior administration officials to safety as law enforcement responded to the unfolding threat.
WHCA President Weijia Jiang, who also serves as CBS News’ senior White House correspondent, said the organization carefully weighed whether to move forward with a replacement event before ultimately deciding that it was important not to allow violence to dictate the association’s future.
“Rescheduling was not automatic,” Jiang said in a statement. “It was a choice that the WHCA board made after thoughtful consideration and input from our members.”
The organization said the new dinner will be a smaller and more tightly controlled event, featuring significantly enhanced security protocols and revised access procedures.
Trump quickly embraced the decision and confirmed that he had accepted Jiang’s invitation to attend and speak at the gathering.
“In a sign of strength and fortitude, it was just announced that The White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which violently ended rather abruptly on April 25th, will be rescheduled to July 24th,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling,” he continued. “I was asked to be there, and speak, by Weijia Jiang, President of The White House Correspondents’ Association, and have accepted.”
The original dinner became the scene of one of the most alarming security incidents of Trump’s second term. Federal prosecutors later charged Cole Thomas Allen with attempting to assassinate the president. According to the Department of Justice, Allen allegedly breached a security perimeter while armed with a shotgun and other weapons in an effort to reach the ballroom where Trump and hundreds of guests were gathered.
Authorities said one Secret Service officer was injured during the confrontation. Prosecutors subsequently charged Allen with attempted assassination of the president, assault on a federal officer, and several related offenses.
The incident sparked widespread questions about security procedures surrounding the event. Some attendees later claimed safeguards appeared inadequate, while reports indicated that the suspect allegedly boasted in a manifesto that he had visited the venue beforehand and encountered little visible security despite carrying multiple weapons.
Despite those concerns, the White House Correspondents’ Association expressed gratitude to the Secret Service, law enforcement agencies, and hotel personnel who responded to the crisis.
The organization also framed the rescheduled dinner as a statement about resilience and the importance of maintaining longstanding American institutions in the face of violence.
“The White House Correspondents’ Dinner has served as a celebration of a free press and the vital role of journalism in our democracy for over a century,” the association said. “We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word.”
