The White House Correspondents’ Association announced Tuesday that it will hold a do-over of its annual dinner in July after the gathering in April was cut short after a gunman opened fire at the Washington Hilton in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill President Trump.
WHCA President Weijia Jiang said the rescheduled dinner will take place on July 24.
Details on the venue, tickets and entertainment will be announced at a later date, she said, adding the new dinner will feature “enhanced safety measures and access procedures.”
“When gunfire interrupted this year’s event, it further clarified the WHCA’s mission to advocate for the freedoms that are protected in the First Amendment. 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,” Ms. Jiang said in a statement.
“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. As you have all demonstrated, courage and community can and should rise above,” she continued.
Ms. Jiang added that rescheduling the dinner “was not automatic,” but rather “a choice the WHCA board made after thoughtful consideration and input from members.”
She said the dinner will be “a more intimate gathering” and WHCA members who bought tickets to the April dinner will not have to pay for the second event.
It’s unclear if Mr. Trump will attend the redo. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
The April dinner was the first time Mr. Trump attended the event as president, skipping it entirely during his first term and the first year of his second term.
After the shooting, Mr. Trump urged the WHCA to host a second event within 30 days of the April dinner.
Mr. Trump told “60 Minutes” last month that he thought it was necessary to redo the event.
“It’s not that I wanna go. … I’m very busy. I don’t need that. I think it’s very important that they do it again,” he told the outlet.
The April 25 shooting forced organizers to halt the black-tie affair attended by nearly 3,000 journalists, politicians, corporate executives and others.
Shooting suspect Cole Allen faces multiple charges over the incident, including attempting to assassinate the president, two firearms counts and assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon.
Mr. Allen faces life in prison if convicted of the attempted assassination charge alone.
