President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will speak at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which has been rescheduled for July 24.
The April 25 dinner had been interrupted by gunfire when a shooter opened fire at the event. The shooter allegedly intended to target multiple Trump administration officials before being stopped by the Secret Service, according to accounts of the incident.
Trump announced his planned participation in a post on Truth Social, 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,"
In the same post the president framed the rescheduling as a refusal to yield to disorder, saying:
"we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling."
Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, extended an invitation for Trump to attend and to speak at the event.
On what he might say from the podium, Trump wrote:
"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,"and added that
"In any event, it will be a ’HOT’ ticket!"
The rescheduled dinner is set to be held at the Waldorf Astoria on Pennsylvania Avenue. In his post, Trump also noted that he built the building and ballroom.
The announcement closes the immediate question of whether the president would appear following the safety breach that halted the original dinner. Organizers and attendees will now prepare for the July date at the Waldorf Astoria, where security arrangements and logistics will shape the event as it moves forward.