The White House Correspondents’ Association has revealed a new date for its annual dinner, following an attempted assassination of Donald Trump during the event, and the President has confirmed his attendance.
Originally scheduled for late April, the dinner was disrupted when 31-year-old Cole Allen bypassed a Secret Service checkpoint armed with a shotgun, handgun, and several knives.
WHCA President Weija Jang announced in a statement that the dinner will now take place on July 24.
Trump took to social media to share, “In a display of resilience, the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which ended abruptly on April 25th due to a violent incident, has been rescheduled for July 24th.”
He continued, “This is a positive step, as we must not let disruptive individuals alter our lives or schedules. I have been invited to attend and speak by Weijia Jiang, President of the White House Correspondents’ Association, and I have accepted the invitation.”
The former President also noted that the event will take place at his previous Washington, DC hotel, now known as The Waldorf Astoria.
‘In any event, it will be a “HOT” ticket! Interestingly, the location will be The Waldorf Astoria, on Pennsylvania Avenue, a Building and Ballroom that I built.’
He noted that he may have to redo his speech, floating, ‘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.’
First lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump attend the annual White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 25, 2026. The association announced on Tuesday that the dinner has been rescheduled for July 24
Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, took this selfie before allegedly breaching a security checkpoint with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives. He is currently in pretrial detention in Washington, DC, while facing charges that could land him in prison for life
The rescheduled dinner will take place at The Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC, a hotel that was formerly owned by Trump
Allen is currently serving pretrial detention in Washington; he faces life in prison on charges for attempted assassination of a US President, among others.
Cole allegedly shot a Secret Service agent while sprinting through a magnetometer and was immediately apprehended.
Secret Service opened fire on Cole, startling the dinner attendees in an adjacent room, prompting for many to dive for cover under their tables.
Later that evening, Trump gave a press conference from the White House Press Briefing room – still wearing his tuxedo – where he said he’d like to see the dinner rescheduled within 30 days.
The WHCA said in its email that the rescheduled dinner will feature enhanced security and screening processes after many were left wondering how Allen was able to infiltrate the venue heavily armed.
‘The event will feature significantly enhanced safety measures and new access procedures,’ Jiang said in her email to WHCA members.
The re-run will also ‘be a more intimate gathering,’ presumably with less guests, according to the dispatch.
The dinner has been held annually for over a century and is meant as a celebration for the First Amendment and US citizens’ freedom of speech rights.
