US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will speak at a rescheduled White House correspondents' dinner on July 24, after a shooting incident disrupted the gala event in April. Trump hailed the announcement by the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) as a "sign of Strength and Fortitude", in rare praise of the media he often berates. "I was asked to be there, and speak... and have accepted," Trump said on his Truth Social network. "This announcement is a very good thing in that we cannot allow Lunatics to change our way of life, or even its scheduling." The Republican president had to be evacuated from the dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel on April 25 after shots erupted at a security checkpoint outside the ballroom venue. California man Cole Allen, 31, has pleaded not guilty to charges including attempting to kill the president.
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Truth or Fake © France 24
"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," WHCA president Weijia Jiang said in an email to members announcing the dinner. The new dinner would involve "significantly enhanced safety measures" and be held at a "more intimate" venue, the WHCA said, without saying where it would take place. But Trump said that "interestingly" the new dinner would be held at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington – which was a Trump hotel from 2016 to 2021. His attendance at the dinner in April was his first in either of his two terms as president, reflecting his disdain for the media he has branded the "enemy of the people".
