President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he would attend the rescheduled White House Correspondents\u2019 Association dinner in July after the spring event was abruptly cut short when a gunman ran through a security checkpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was asked to be there, and speak, by Weijia Jiang, President of The White House Correspondents\u2019 Association, and have accepted,\u201d Trump said in his Truth Social announcement. \u201cI don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jiang said the rescheduled dinner will take place July 24. Trump said in his Truth Social post that the dinner would be at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The annual event was thrown into chaos in April when a man ran through a security checkpoint outside the dinner, armed with guns and knives, according to officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, has pleaded not guilty to four counts, including a charge of attempting to assassinate Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jiang said in a post announcing the new dinner, \u201cWe will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on America 250 and everything we stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jiang told the White House press pool in a note detailing the decision that the board decided to reschedule the dinner \u201cafter thoughtful consideration and input from our members.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur thoughts remain with the officer who was injured and with everyone who experienced that evening,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe are indebted to the US Secret Service, law enforcement and the hotel staff whose swift response protected our guests and our staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jiang said the association has raised enough money so members who bought tickets for the April dinner could attend the rescheduled program free. The association will offer financial support for scholarship winners to travel to the dinner, which she said \u201cwill be a more intimate gathering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis dinner will not only be an opportunity to carry out our program,\u201d Jiang said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n