President Donald Trump announced that he will speak at the newly rescheduled White House Correspondents (WHCA) Dinner after the original event earlier this year was abruptly cut short by an alleged assassin.
Trump praised the decision Tuesday to hold the event again despite the violence, calling it a “sign of Strength and Fortitude.”
The original media gala on April 25 ended in chaos after an armed gunman allegedly attempted to kill the president.
The WHCA has been rescheduled to July 24 and will be held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., with Trump noting it was a building and ballroom that he built.
Trump added that he accepted the invitation from WHCA President Weijia Jiang to speak at the event.
The president added he hasn't decided on whether he will deliver his originally speech, one that was widely expected to attack the media.
“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,” he wrote on Truth Social. “In any event, it will be a ‘HOT’ ticket!”
The rescheduled dinner is expected to feature enhanced security. The armed gunman at the initial event breached a security checkpoint outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton. Trump was rushed off stage by Secret Service Agents and was uninjured.
Authorities later revealed that Trump was the suspect’s intended target. The alleged gunman was later identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of California.
According to federal prosecutors, Allen checked in as a guest at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was being held.
Allen has been charged with four counts, including a charge of attempting to assassinate Trump.
He has pleaded not guilty and remains behind bars as he awaits trial.