President Donald Trump will take the stage Friday night at a rescheduled White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, returning to an event that turned chaotic in April when a gunman breached security in an attempt to reach the ballroom.
The do-over is happening at a fraction of the original scale. The dinner has been moved from the Washington Hilton, which has hosted the annual event since 1972, to the Waldorf Astoria in downtown Washington. The new venue holds roughly 700 people, compared to the original ballroom's capacity of over 3,000.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previewed Trump's remarks as an unusual blend of tones. "The president's speech will be a combination of unifying yet vicious, and serious yet hilarious, all at the same time," she told NBC News. "One thing I can assure you, it will be entertaining."
A senior White House official indicated that Trump intends to briefly address the April violence during his speech. The official also suggested Trump may dust off jokes originally written for the April dinner that he never got to deliver. After the first event was evacuated, Trump had said he was planning to be sharp with the press corps, before backing off those plans.
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, allegedly rushed through a security checkpoint in April in what prosecutors say was an attempt to assassinate Trump and administration officials. He exchanged gunfire with law enforcement and has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including an assassination attempt.
Friday's event will include a recognition ceremony for Secret Service officer Victor Gonzales, who was shot during the April attack. The White House Correspondents' Association said Gonzales "ran toward danger so that thousands of others could make it home safely."
Entertainment will be provided by mentalist Oz Pearlman. WHCA president Weijia Jiang described the program as essentially the same as what was planned in April, but with a much smaller footprint. Several top Trump administration officials have confirmed attendance, including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and multiple cabinet secretaries. Notably absent will be first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The dinner comes at a particularly contentious moment between the Trump administration and news media. The president has called critical outlets "the enemy of the people," suggested that media coverage of military conflicts amounts to "treason," and pursued multiple lawsuits against major newspapers including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
In January, the FBI executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post reporter and seized her devices in connection with a leak investigation. The Justice Department also recently subpoenaed New York Times journalists in a separate leak probe. The DOJ withdrew those subpoenas this week following judicial pushback.
A letter signed by hundreds of journalists ahead of the dinner urged the WHCA to use the platform to criticize what they called the administration's "egregious" attacks on press freedom. "We believe it is hypocritical to celebrate the First Amendment in front of the man who relentlessly attacks it," the letter stated, calling on the association to "condemn the administration's actions from the podium."
The administration has countered by blaming media rhetoric for fueling political violence. Acting Attorney General Blanche, who signed off on the Times subpoenas, suggested in April that overheated media criticism of Trump contributed to the violence at the first dinner. "They're just as guilty as a lot of people on X," he told reporters, when outlets rely on "overly critical" coverage without "evidence" or "proof."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump's promise of both vicious humor and unity is the kind of rhetorical contortion only he attempts, and whether Friday proves more unifying or vicious will tell us plenty about where things actually stand between this White House and the press."
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