WASHINGTON — The White House Correspondents' Association has not rescheduled its annual dinner more than three weeks after a gunman opened fire in the Washington Hilton lobby on April 25, 2026, in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill President Donald Trump. Board members are scoping out smaller venues and weighing a pared-down event to address financial and security concerns, with a return to the Washington Hilton or a full-scale dinner not foreseen.

The dinner typically accommodates close to 3,000 people. A Secret Service officer was shot during the attack and is recovering. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, had been staying in the Washington Hilton at the time.

Trump said on social media the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days. He also said, "We need the ballroom," referring to holding the dinner in his yet-to-be finished White House ballroom. The Justice Department has used the issue to try to pressure preservationists to drop their lawsuit over the $400 million project on the site of the former East Wing.

Kelly McBride, an ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, said the venue question was nearly impossible to resolve. "You'd have to make the Secret Service happy," McBride said. "I don't know you do that unless it is in a government facility. But it can't be in a government facility."

McBride rejected the option floated by the president. "It can never be in the ballroom," she said, referring to holding the dinner in the White House ballroom to maintain credibility. "I can't imagine how they can possibly redo this event this year in a way that would accomplish everything they need," she added. "It sure would be easier just to call the whole thing off."

Jeff James, a retired Secret Service officer and security company owner, defended the security operation at the April event. "Can it be done safely? I would argue that it was done safely the first time," James said. "The gunman never even got to the same floor as the president. He was stopped within about 30 feet of reaching the middle perimeter. He never came close to being within handgun range, let alone shotgun range."

Marcy McGinnis, co-founder of Exact Communication and a former television news executive, said the dinner should not be rescheduled because the money raised for scholarships had already been raised.