(AFP) – US President Donald Trump will return to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner amid heightened security on Friday, three months after an alleged assassination attempt forced his chaotic evacuation from the event. Defying threats from what he called “lunatics,” Trump is set to give the speech he was prevented from delivering in April when gunshots were fired at the Washington Hilton and the black-tie dinner was called off. California man Cole Allen, 31, has pleaded not guilty to charges including attempting to kill the president.
This time the US Secret Service is taking no chances, shutting down a swathe of Washington and throwing up a huge security cordon to ensure the White House dinner 2.0 passes off safely. The venue has also been changed from the Hilton to the Waldorf Astoria, a former Trump hotel, meaning the gala will be much smaller and “more intimate,” according to organizers. While Trump had been expected to deliver a furious media-bashing speech at the original event, it remains to be seen what tone he will take at the rescheduled dinner.
“In April, President Trump promised to finish the job and plan another WHCA Dinner, and today, he will deliver on that promise,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AFP. “We look forward to a great and fun evening celebrating 250 years of American greatness and a free press.” Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents Association which organizes the dinner, said in June as she announced the re-do that “we will not allow an act of violence to have the last word.”
Trump offered rare praise for the press in the immediate aftermath of the dinner and praised their decision to go ahead with a re-run as a “sign of strength and fortitude.” But he has hinted that he might go back to his old habits in his speech on Friday. “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,” Trump said in June when he announced that he would attend. “In any event, it will be a ‘HOT’ ticket!”
Trump’s attendance at the dinner in April was his first in either of his two terms as president, reflecting his disdain for the media he has branded the “enemy of the people.” As well as Trump’s speech, the rescheduled dinner will keep to a similar program that includes a performance by mentalist Oz Pearlman. But it will also include a tribute to a Secret Service agent who helped stop the alleged gunman in April despite being struck in his protective vest, and to the staff of the Hilton.
The head of the Secret Service said it was ready for the rescheduled dinner, despite facing criticism over the original incident. “It did work, the system worked,” director Sean Curran told reporters on Wednesday, insisting that a cordon had prevented the alleged attacker from reaching the main hall where the dinner was taking place in April. But Curran, who was at Trump’s side when an assassin’s bullet hit the Republican’s ear at an election rally in 2024, said that current threats against top US officials were “off the charts.” “The threat picture and environment is as large as I’ve ever seen it,” added Curran.
– Danny KEMP
© 2024 AFP
