Trump Set To Deliver Remarks At Tonight’s Rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner
on Jul 24, 2026 • Updated Jul 24, 2026
In the evening of Friday, July 24, the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner will be held, with President Donald Trump set to deliver remarks at the annual event for the very first time.
This event comes almost three months to the day when, on April 25, a gunman interrupted the originally planned Correspondents’ Dinner just as it was about to begin.
Allegedly plotting to assassinate Trump and members of his Cabinet, the gunman was ultimately apprehended after opening fire in the venue lobby, shooting one member of law enforcement who survived thanks to his bulletproof vest.
Rewatch the surveillance footage of the incident, showing alleged 31-year-old gunman Cole Tomas Allen run through a security checkpoint and allegedly open fire, here:
A new angle more clearly shows suspect Cole Allen bolting from a door and the Secret Service returning fire at the White House Correspondents Dinner. pic.twitter.com/IROgR6vVdP
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) May 1, 2026
Responding to the shooting at a press conference that evening, Trump said, “In light of this evening’s events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our difference peacefully. We have to resolve our differences.”
Now, Trump and others will be participating in the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and with security tightened as Secret Service reveals it has looked into 10,000 threats since the start of the year.
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How To Watch The White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Before the April 25 attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, the event celebrating freedom of speech was being held at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Famously, Trump had never attended the Correspondents’ Dinner as president, which typically sees the president deliver humorous remarks for the journalists who cover the happenings at the White House.
Prior to his presidency, he did attend the 2011 Correspondents’ Dinner… and he was roasted by the evening’s comedian (more on that, below).
With the 2026 Correspondents’ Dinner being his first time to attend as president, that it resulted in an attempted assassination is notable.
This was the third of four major attempts on Trump’s life, with the 2024 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, being the first; the September 2024 attempt on his life as he golfed at Mar-a-Lago being the second; and a plot that was foiled by the FBI ahead of the UFC Freedom 250 fight at the White House on June 14 being the fourth.
This time, on July 24, it’s being held at the Waldorf Astoria in D.C., and with a much smaller guest list, going down from 2,600 to just 680.
With security enhanced at the rescheduled Correspondents’ Dinner, the hope is to put on a good and safe event.
As quoted by the New York Post, Secret Service Dir. Sean Curran spoke on the 10,000 threats against Trump and others since the beginning of 2026, saying, “The numbers are numbers that this agency and certainly I have never seen in my 24-year career.”
Continuing, he said, “The environment has become very volatile, and that’s just across the board. The threat picture and environment is as large as I’ve ever seen it.”
Still, the show must go on.
Speaking with PEOPLE, Weijia Jiang, a CBS News correspondent and president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said:
“Maybe if it wasn’t this year, 2026, it would’ve been easier just to say, ‘Let’s just wait until next year’s dinner,’ but especially at that time leading up to July 4th, all the country was talking about, all Washington was talking about, was America 250.”
She added, “And the First Amendment is such an important part of that fabric that this year of all years, we have to show the importance of recognizing those freedoms in the First Amendment.”
On the night’s schedule, Trump is expected to deliver remarks, and mentalist Oz Pearlman will provide entertainment.
Further, scholarships from White House Correspondents’ Association will be awarded.
PEOPLE also notes that a service award will be bestowed upon the Secret Service agents who were present on the night of the April 25 dinner that was interrupted by violence.
While the event will begin at 8 p.m. on July 24, C-SPAN will begin broadcasting coverage of the event at 6 p.m.
C-SPAN’s livestream can be accessed on its official website, here, or beginning at 7 p.m. on YouTube, here:
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Revisit A Possible Key Reason Why Trump Has Never Attended The Correspondents’ Dinner As President… Until Now
Back in 2011, Trump was a successful real estate developer with a hit reality competition series on NBC, Celebrity Apprentice.
Trump attended the Correspondents’ Dinner that year, with the birther movement issue in full-swing as Trump had very publicly questioned whether then President Barack Obama was born in America.
Rumors were beginning to swirl that Trump was going to announce that he was going to run for president in 2012…
The entertainer for the evening was Seth Meyers, who proceeded to roast Trump during his set.
Upon being sworn in as the 45th president in 2017, Trump proceeded to never attend the Correspondents’ Dinner. Similarly, he did not attend the 2025 Correspondents’ Dinner at the start of his term as the 47th president either.
Watch the uncomfortable moment from 2011 that visibly infuriated Trump, here:
