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Washington — The White House Correspondents’ Association announced Tuesday that it will reschedule its annual press dinner for July 24 after the initial event was disrupted when a gunman attacked the gathering attended by President Trump, senior administration officials and scores of journalists.
Weijia Jiang, who is the president of the association and a CBS News senior White House correspondent, said in an email to members of the White House Correspondents’ Association that the rescheduled event would be a “more intimate gathering” and feature “significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures.”
Mr. Trump said he has accepted an invitation to speak at the dinner next month, calling it a “‘HOT’ ticket!”
“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,” he 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.”
The president said the event will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C, which used to be the Trump International Hotel. Jiang said earlier Tuesday that information about a venue would be forthcoming.
“This dinner will not only be an opportunity to carry out our program. It will be a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence,” she wrote. “As you have all demonstrated, courage and community can and should rise above.”
She said the decision to hold a second dinner was made by the association’s board after receiving input from members.
“We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for,” Jiang wrote.
The dinner initially took place April 25 but was upended when an armed man charged a security checkpoint outside the event. Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet officials in attendance were evacuated, while journalists and media executives took cover under tables.
During a press conference soon after the shooting, the president said the dinner would be rescheduled.
Police identified the suspect in the attack as Cole Allen, a 31-year-old who they said traveled from California to Washington, D.C., by train and was staying at the hotel where the press dinner was to take place. He was charged with attempting to assassinate the president, assaulting a federal law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon and two firearms offenses.
Allen pleaded not guilty to all charges. He will remain detained in the lead-up to a trial.
Prosecutors said he was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and knives when he attempted to run through the security checkpoint one story above the ballroom at the Washington Hilton. Law enforcement officials said Allen shot a Secret Service officer, who was hit in his bulletproof vest but was not seriously injured.