What's happening tonight
• The White House Correspondents’ Association is hosting its annual dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC, with bolstered security measures, after April’s event was halted by a shooting incident at the Washington Hilton.
• President Donald Trump will be in attendance. The president had expressed interest in attending after April’s incident, initially calling for it to be rescheduled within 30 days.
• A Secret Service officer credited with stopping the alleged gunman and the staff of the Washington Hilton will be honored with the President’s Award Exceptional Service to the White House Correspondents’ Association.
• During April’s dinner, Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the Cabinet were escorted from the Hilton’s ballroom after an armed man opened fire in a nearby hallway. Journalists and other VIPs took cover under tables in the chaos.
What was happening when the April Correspondents’ Dinner was interrupted
Months ago, as the White House Correspondents’ Dinner got underway, more than 2,000 guests had just taken their seats. The wine was being poured, the bread baskets were being passed, and a first course of burrata salads had been served.
Before the gunshots rang out, there was some decidedly more lighthearted drama happening at the head table, where President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and other top officials were seated on a dais with members of the White House Correspondents’ Association board.
The mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was slated to be that evening’s entertainment, was performing a magic trick.
Pearlman, who is performing again tonight, was guessing the name of Karoline Leavitt’s unborn daughter.
As Pearlman, leaning over between the Trumps, held up name cards in his magic trick, Melania Trump suddenly looked aghast, mouth open, seemingly realizing before those around her that all was not all right.
“The timing is so weird because you see them be amazed because of the name, and they go ‘oh!’ And then at that moment is when we all see what happened,” Pearlman added.
Moments later, the Trumps were hustled off the stage and into a secure space.
Dinner attendees face four layers of security
Hundreds of journalists, administration officials and Washington power players are giving the White House Correspondents’ Dinner another shot — as soon as they make it through four layers of security.
The arrival procedures for this iteration of the dinner were unsurprisingly strict, with attendees required to show a photo ID and individualized invitation code at several checkpoints.
Authorities blocked off the roads surrounding the Waldorf Astoria, funneling people through a single entrance to the hotel where their credentials were immediately checked and wristbands were distributed. From there, it was two more checkpoints and finally an airport-style magnetometer before attendees could get to the lower level where the dinner is set to occur.
In prior years, attendees needed simply to flash a paper invitation (or show a copy of the invite on their phone) to get past an initial ring of security surrounding the Washington Hilton. From there, they could walk right into the hotel, where reporters and their guests — including Cabinet secretaries and other high-level officials — lined up for a photo on the red carpet or dispersed to one of several pre-parties on the main floor, mixing freely with unvetted hotel guests along the way.
The enhanced security measures came later, when attendees made their way to the hotel’s lower level for the dinner, where they had to show their invite and then pass through magnetometers to get to the main ballroom area.
Guests are arriving at the Waldorf Astoria
Guests are starting to arrive to the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, DC, for the rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
It’s quiet on the streets surrounding the hotel, apart from a few anti-Trump protesters and the sound of choppers circling the venue. The streets are blocked off by fencing and the National Guard are flanking the area where attendees are waiting in line to get into the hotel.
The streets are blocked off by cars and snow plows and reporters are doing live hits behind the fencing. Spectators are lining the fencing watching reporters and White House staff walk in. Police officers are lining the fence every 20 feet or so.
After making it through the check-in line, some journalists dressed in dresses and tuxedos are stopping for a photo at a backdrop before heading into the ballroom.
Inside, people are mingling and chatting with each other before dinner begins . Some top Trump administration officials at the scene include Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Health, Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
Where the case stands against the man charged in the April correspondents' dinner shooting
In April, as President Donald Trump and his wife sat at the head table during the first White House Correspondents’ dinner, a man sprinted through a security checkpoint outside the ballroom, armed with a shotgun.
Guests inside heard the sound of gunfire, and the president and other top officials were quickly escorted to safety.
Officials say the shooter was able to fire one round, which hit a Secret Service officer in the protective vest. The suspect then went to the ground and was detained by law enforcement. The officer he hit fired several times, but missed both the attacker and surrounding agents and officers.
Prosecutors charged Allen with attempting to assassinate the president and assaulting an officer, alleging that he traveled from California with weapons and stayed at the hotel hosting April’s dinner to scope out the location and have better access.
Allen has pleaded not guilty.
Defense attorneys for Allen have argued in court filings that the evidence he wanted to assassinate the president is “built entirely upon speculation,” noting that a document Allen allegedly wrote did not explicitly mention Trump.
"Unifying yet vicious": Press secretary previews Trump’s speech
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Friday that President Donald Trump’s speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner speech will be “unifying yet vicious,” previewing remarks he plans to give to a room full of journalists at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
The second attempt at the dinner — which was re-scheduled after a shooting disrupted the first attempt in April — is expected to be a smaller affair, though it will still be attended by several high-ranking officials in Trump’s administration, and the president is once again expected to deliver remarks. It comes as his administration is waging an aggressive campaign to crack down on leaks that has included subpoenaing journalists, alarming free press advocates.
Melania Trump and JD Vance will not attend tonight's dinner
First lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend tonight’s rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner due to scheduling conflicts, a White House official confirmed to CNN.
The first lady, who is in Bedminster, New Jersey, did not join the president for a trip to Dover Air Force Base for a dignified transfer earlier this week. And Vance’s wife, second lady Usha Vance, recently gave birth to their fourth child.
Fox News was first to report on those expected to attend.
The vice president and the first lady were among the guests rushed off stage at April’s gala when a gunman opened fire in a hallway of the Washington Hilton. Friday’s dinner is being held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington.
CNN’s Betsy Klein contributed to this report.
How the April shooting incident upended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Tonight’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner was rescheduled after the April event was abruptly shut down when an armed man stormed past a security checkpoint and was subdued by Secret Service at the Washington Hilton.
Here’s how the incident unfolded:
- A man, identified as Cole Allen, sprinted through a security checkpoint, carrying loaded firearms and knives, outside the Washington Hilton ballroom just after 8:30 p.m. ET on April 25, according to security footage released of the incident.
- Secret Service agents were able to subdue Allen before he could reach the ballroom where President Donald Trump, administration officials, members of Congress and some of the nation’s most prominent journalists were all in attendance for the annual dinner. Allen hit one officer before he was detained by several agents.
- Trump and top officials were rushed to safety after gunfire was heard outside the ballroom. The president himself wasn’t immediately sure what had happened. Trump’s first thought was a tray full of dinner plates crashing to the floor: “I’ve heard that many times,” he would say later from the White House, still wearing his tuxedo from the event.
- Later that evening, Trump held a news conference at the White House. Trump thanked White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang for her work and said that the whole ordeal had, strangely enough, caused the room full of political adversaries and the press to become “totally unified.”
- “It was very unexpected, but incredibly acted upon by Secret Service and law enforcement,” Trump said. Trump was flanked by Vice President JD Vance and his top law enforcement officials.
- On May 11 Allen appeared before a federal judge in Washington, DC and pleaded not guilty to the four charges he faces. He has been indicted on charges including attempting to assassinate a president and assaulting an officer. He remains behind bars and a trial in the case has yet to be set.
CNN’s Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
Trump and his team reviewed speech Thursday for balance, source says
President Donald Trump and his team were reviewing his speech for the White House Correspondents Dinner redo on Thursday, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
Part of the discussion stemmed around potential roasts of journalists and what kind of balance the president should strike. Trump is slated to speak for roughly 40 minutes at the event Friday night; however, Trump is known to go off script, often exceeding planned run-times.
The source said the president was looking forward to the event. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier that Trump’s message would be “unifying yet vicious.”
Scholarship winners to be honored tonight at the rescheduled dinner
The rescheduled White House Correspondents’ Dinner will feature scholarship winners from 16 colleges and universities around the country.
Most of the 30 students picked to receive scholarships, financed by the dinner, also attended in April but the evening took a turn when gunshots disrupted the black-tie event.
Kaitlin Bender-Thomas, a graduate student at Northwestern University, was among the awardees. She and her friends “talked about the dinner for months” and were looking forward to meeting some of the reporters they admire.
“No one, obviously, expected the night to turn out the way it did,” she added describing the confusion she felt as the students dropped to the ground.
In June, the WHCA announced plans to offer financial support for the scholarship winners to travel to Washington for a second time in order to be honored.
“I was definitely happy and, truthfully, surprised it was rescheduled,” said Julia Hanson an honoree from the University of Kansas. “I know it takes great effort to host this kind of event, much less get everyone in the same place at once. I’m very grateful the association made it happen.”
The First Amendment's importance will be talked about tonight. Here’s why that matters
White House correspondents are expected to take to the podium tonight and affirm the importance of the First Amendment — a unique opportunity given that President Donald Trump will be there to hear it.
With both words and actions, his administration has sought to weaken the news media, often under the guise of challenging biased coverage and restoring trust.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department issued subpoenas to several reporters at The New York Times as part of an aggressive leak investigation, prompting condemnation from the correspondents’ association and other First Amendment groups.
On Thursday, the DOJ said it would withdraw the subpoenas under withering scrutiny from a federal judge.
That’s some of the mood music for tonight’s get-together — leaving some members of the media to say Trump shouldn’t be invited at all, resuming a debate that began last spring.
A letter signed by hundreds of veteran journalists and sent to the correspondents’ association this week urged the organization to “forcefully stand up for freedom of the press in front of the president, publicly defend the journalists he attacks, and vow to resist his administration’s concerted effort to undermine the First Amendment.”
Secret Service readies for rescheduled White House Correspondents' dinner after attack
As the Secret Service prepares for a second take at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, Director Sean Curran defended how his agency handled security at the first version of the dinner.
The dinner in April was shut down after a gunman opened fire as he rushed through a Secret Service screening checkpoint on the floor above where the dinner was being held. The man hit one officer before he was detained by several agents.
Curran noted that the man, who was staying as a guest at the hotel prior to the dinner, was stopped over 100 yards from the podium.
“That is the success. That is why we set up checkpoints,” Curran told reporters when asked about security preparations and reassurances for guests attending the rescheduled event.
Curran noted that advance teams have already visited the new location for the dinner, the Waldorf Astoria, and established a security plan for the evening.
One law enforcement official told CNN that the access points are more limited at the dinner’s new location, which will help focus security. The location, the person added, is also in an area with a heavy police presence from both local and federal agencies, a factor that also helps in securing the area.
Secret Service officer who stopped alleged gunman at April’s dinner to be honored tonight
The Secret Service officer who assisted in stopping the alleged gunman at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April will be honored tonight with the President’s Award for Exceptional Service to the White House Correspondents’ Association, the organization announced.
Secret Service Police Officer Victor Gonzales was at the security checkpoint inside the Washington Hilton when an armed man, Cole Allen, attempted to storm through into the annual dinner on April 25.
The WHCA statement quoted the Secret Service as saying Gonzales “heroically” engaged the armed suspect and continued responding after being struck in his protective vest, adding that “his swift and decisive actions assisted in deterring the gunman from proceeding any further.”
A second award will be presented to the staff of the Washington Hilton,
“Even after the men and women of the Washington Hilton experienced a harrowing situation, they continued to take care of guests,” Jiang said. “Every member of the team deserves to be recognized for their dedication.”
