Melania Trump, Vance and Rubio each had scheduling conflicts, as did House Speaker Mike Johnson, after a gunman interrupted the previous dinner April 25.Show Caption
WASHINGTON – First lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio won’t be attending the rescheduled White House Correspondents Association dinner on July 24.The original April 25 event was canceled after a gunman got perilously close to the ballroom at the Washington Hilton where President Donald Trump and top members of his administration and Congress were set to eat with thousands of reporters and guests.Melania Trump, Vance and Rubio each have scheduling conflicts, the White House said in a statement.Melania Trump attended the FIFA World Cup soccer championship with her husband July 19. Vance’s wife, Usha, gave birth to their fourth child on July 19.Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and FBI Director Kash Patel are among those attending, the White House said.House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who was a guest of USA TODAY at the April dinner, isn't able to attend the second dinner because of a scheduling conflict, a spokesperson said.The suspect in the shooting at the April dinner, Cole Tomas Allen, was subdued a floor above the ballroom after allegedly shooting a Secret Service officer in his ballistic vest while running through a security checkpoint. Allen has been charged with attempting to assassinate Trump and pleaded not guilty.The rescheduled dinner will be at the Waldorf Astoria, a hotel Trump renovated from a government building as part of his real estate business before he was elected president.
