Nearly three months after a violent assassination attempt disrupted its annual dinner, the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) has announced the event will return to Washington D.C. next month, with upgraded security protocols in place to prevent a repeat of the incident. The annual gathering of journalists, government officials and political figures was thrown into chaos on April 25, when 31-year-old California resident Cole Allen opened fire at an exterior security checkpoint outside the Washington Hilton ballroom where U.S. President Donald Trump was speaking. Trump was immediately evacuated from the venue as law enforcement responded to the threat, and no attendees or staff were harmed in the incident. Allen has since entered a plea of not guilty to federal charges that include attempted assassination of the sitting president.
In an official email circulated to WHCA members Tuesday, association president Weijia Jiang confirmed the rescheduled dinner will take place in the nation’s capital on Friday, July 24. In a defiant statement rejecting the impact of the violent act, Jiang emphasized that the association would not let intimidation cancel a longstanding tradition of press engagement with the White House. “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 WHCA leader confirmed the event will implement substantially enhanced safety measures and revised entry procedures, and will be structured as a smaller, more intimate gathering than the original glitzy, well-attended April event. Jiang did not share further details about the new venue (the original was the Washington Hilton), ticketing arrangements, or event programming, noting that additional information would be released to members in the coming weeks. She also declined to confirm whether President Trump would attend the rescheduled dinner. The annual gala typically draws thousands of attendees from across journalism and the federal government, and traditionally includes remarks from the sitting U.S. president.
Following the April incident, Trump publicly called for the dinner to be rescheduled, and has also cited the attempted attack to justify his controversial plan to construct a new ballroom at the White House complex—a proposal that has drawn criticism from historical preservation groups and political opponents.