White House Correspondents’ Dinner Rescheduled for July 24; Trump Accepts Invitation After April Shooting

The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) announced on Tuesday that it will hold a rescheduled dinner on July 24 at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., following an April 25 event that was abruptly interrupted by gunfire. WHCA president and CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang said the new gathering will be “more intimate” and incorporate “significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures.” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he accepted an invitation from Jiang to attend and speak at the event.

Shots rang out during the original April 25 dinner while guests were seated, prompting a rapid response from the U.S. Secret Service and other law enforcement personnel who evacuated Trump and senior administration officials from the ballroom. More than 2,000 reporters and government officials had attended the Washington Hilton event, according to media reports. Images from the scene showed attendees ducking under tables as authorities moved to secure the area.

Federal prosecutors charged Cole Thomas Allen on May 5 with attempting to assassinate the president in connection with the incident. The Department of Justice alleged that Allen charged through a security blockade armed with a shotgun and other weapons in an effort to reach the ballroom. One Secret Service officer was injured during the alleged effort, and prosecutors additionally charged Allen with assaulting a U.S. officer and other offenses.

In announcing the rescheduled dinner, Jiang emphasized that the decision was deliberate. “Rescheduling was not automatic,” she said, noting that the WHCA board made the choice after careful consideration and input from its members. She described the July event as intended to send a message that “violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence.” The association’s statement underscored the dinner’s long-standing role as a celebration of journalism and the First Amendment, and it referenced this year’s reflection on the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Trump praised the WHCA’s decision in his Truth Social post, writing: “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. This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling. I was asked to be there, and speak, by Weijia Jiang, President of The White House Correspondents’ Association, and have accepted.” He also identified the Waldorf Astoria as the venue for the rescheduled dinner.

The WHCA said the rescheduled event will be “a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence.” The announcement thanked “the US Secret Service, law enforcement and the hotel staff whose swift response protected our guests and our staff.” Several attendees later alleged that security at the original dinner had appeared unusually lax; media reporting said the alleged would-be assassin’s manifesto claimed he had visited the hotel the day before and encountered “no damn security” despite carrying “multiple weapons.”

The WHCA noted that the rescheduled event will be smaller than the April dinner and will operate under tighter safety protocols and access procedures, though the association did not disclose specific security arrangements. The decision to hold the dinner was framed as both a reaffirmation of the press’s role in democracy and a repudiation of violence as a means to silence journalists or public officials.

The association did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for additional comment. Editor’s note: Article updated to include President Donald Trump’s statement saying he will attend the event.