President Donald Trump is set to deliver remarks Friday at the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, two months after an assassination attempt forced organizers to postpone the original program.
The dinner, originally scheduled for April, was interrupted after gunfire erupted outside the Washington Hilton as Trump and other administration officials attended the event. Secret Service agents quickly evacuated Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the Cabinet, while hundreds of attendees sheltered under tables as law enforcement secured the scene.
Authorities later charged a California man with attempting to assassinate the president, alleging he tried to breach security while armed.
The rescheduled event will be held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., and is expected to have heightened security and a smaller guest list.
Friday’s event gives Trump a second chance to deliver the remarks he planned to give in April to journalists, administration officials and invited guests.
“I don’t 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. In any event, it will be a ‘HOT’ ticket!,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on July 2 when announcing he would attend the rescheduled event.
The first lady, who attended the original dinner, will not attend the rescheduled gathering, a White House official confirmed to MS NOW. The Office of the First Lady did not provide a reason for her absence.
The annual dinner has long served as one of Washington’s signature bipartisan social events, bringing together journalists, lawmakers, administration officials, entertainers and business leaders. It is held each year to celebrate the First Amendment, recognize excellence in journalism and raise money for scholarships. It is also known to be a night of humor and lighthearted exchanges.
Presidents from both parties have traditionally used the event to poke fun at themselves, the press and the political establishment, though participation has varied in recent years.
Former White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang, who recently completed her term, said the board chose to hold a second dinner after consulting members argued that the gunfire that disrupted the original event underscored — not diminished — the organization’s mission to defend the First Amendment and a free press.
Jiang said in a letter that the association would “not allow an act of violence to have the last word,” particularly during the nation’s 250th anniversary year.
Trump previously skipped the annual dinners throughout his first term and did so again in 2025 after returning to the White House. He has spent years publicly criticizing many national news organizations and reporters, including MS NOW’s journalists. He has also routinely labeled many mainstream news organizations as “fake news” and accused journalists of biased coverage, while his administration has repeatedly sparred with reporters over access and media policies.
Ahead of the dinner, hundreds of journalists and several press freedom organizations urged the White House Correspondents’ Association to “forcefully” stand against what they described as the Trump administration’s “egregious” attacks toward journalists, including restrictions on media access. The letter specifically cited the Justice Department’s subpoenas of New York Times reporters over their reporting on a Qatari-gifted Air Force One. The DOJ withdrew those subpoenas on Thursday.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that the president “looks forward to finishing what he started before a despicable assassination attempt derailed the original event.”
“I encourage everyone watching tomorrow night to tune in for what promises to be a very entertaining and memorable evening,” Leavitt said.
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