Live: Trump attends White House Correspondents’ dinner
President Donald Trump will gather with hundreds of journalists, lawmakers and federal officials at a rescheduled White House Correspondents Dinner, months after the organization’s April gala ended abruptly when a gunman rushed security and opened fire in an assassination attempt against the president.
Trump vowed after the attempted attack to hold the event at a later date and deliver remarks for it. This is the first year Trump has attended the dinner as president, after having boycotted the black-tie press celebration throughout his first term. In a June 2 social media post, the president said he was debating whether to “give the same rather nasty statements” he planned to include in the original speech.
The event comes amid renewed tensions between the White House and the press corps.
More than 500 journalists signed a letter to the White House Correspondents Association, urging it to publicly criticize Trump’s attacks on the First Amendment during the dinner. Organizers scaled back the event, moving it from the Washington Hilton Hotel where it has been held since 1972, to a smaller ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria hotel.
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