Trump to attend rescheduled White House correspondents' dinner after April shooting

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump is set to attend the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Friday, nearly three months after a shooting outside the original venue forced the annual event to be called off.

The black-tie gathering, which brings together journalists, politicians and administration officials, had been scheduled for April 25 at the Washington Hilton. It was cancelled after a man attempted to push through a security checkpoint and opened fire with a shotgun outside the ballroom as Trump and cabinet members were taking their seats. The suspect, Cole Allen, pleaded not guilty in May to charges that include attempting to assassinate the president.

The event has now been shifted to the Waldorf Astoria hotel and will be held under tighter security arrangements. Secret Service Director Sean Curran said on Wednesday that an advance team was putting in place a detailed security plan for the venue.

Curran told reporters:

We do expect bad people to show up. It's just a reality of where we are, but we're treating it no differently than any other site that the president goes to.

Trump has said the April shooting underscored the need for the $400 million ballroom being built at the White House, arguing that hosting such functions there would improve presidential security.

Honourees and purpose of the event

Friday's dinner will pay tribute to Secret Service officer Victor Gonzales, who was shot at the security checkpoint outside the ballroom in April and is credited with stopping the attack. He was wearing a protective vest and was the only person wounded that night. The WHCA has also said that Washington Hilton staff who helped guests during the incident will be recognised.

The dinner, a longstanding fixture in Washington for more than a century, raises money for journalism scholarships and marks the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. Trump is due to speak at the dinner, while mentalist Oz Pearlman will provide the evening's entertainment.

The April shooting took place during Trump's first appearance as president at the correspondents' dinner. During his earlier years in office, he had skipped the event.

Tensions with the media

Trump has repeatedly clashed with news organisations, filing lawsuits against several outlets, calling unfavourable reporting fake news and criticising individual journalists by name. His administration has also barred the Associated Press from the White House press pool and limited access for some journalists at the Pentagon, among other restrictions.

Last week, Trump threatened to revoke the licences of television networks that did not carry his prime-time address on election security, in which he made claims about foreign election interference that were at odds with a US intelligence assessment. The White House has defended its actions, saying the administration is seeking to safeguard sensitive information, strengthen security and improve accountability for what it describes as biased media organisations.

At the same time, Trump has given reporters more direct access than recent presidents by taking questions during lengthy public appearances and frequently speaking to journalists by telephone.

Several hundred veteran journalists, along with eight professional journalism organisations, have signed a letter urging the WHCA to use the dinner to denounce what they described as Trump's attacks on the First Amendment. WHCA President Weijia Jiang said the event would send a message after the April violence.

will be a statement that violence has no place in American life and a free press will not be intimidated into silence.