White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt left Vice President J.D. Vance’s attendance at Monday’s rescheduled White House correspondents dinner an open question, as the administration reviews security protocols following Saturday night’s shooting.","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/25/trump-evacuated-from-white-house-correspondents-association-dinner-00892113","_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530000","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530001","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>saturday night shooting In the annual festival.
When Leavitt was asked whether it was wise to have both the President and the Vice President together in the wake of the firing, he said, “That’s certainly a good question and it will be raised.” “I can assure you that the President intends to attend the event. I don’t want to rule out or rule out the Vice President’s presence, but certainly, that’s a conversation that will happen.”
President Donald Trump and Vance were both quickly evacuated from a ballroom at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night after a gunman attempted to breach the event’s security perimeter. A US Secret Service officer wearing a ballistic vest was shot during the incident, but was released from the hospital the next day, and no administration officials or guests were harmed.
Trump initially insisted on continuing with the night’s planned events, but later announced that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days after law enforcement informed him that it would not be safe to continue. The new date or location has not been announced yet.
Asked Sunday whether the administration was concerned about several top officials in the presidential succession — including Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and several Cabinet secretaries — attending the same off-site event, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch insisted that security protocols worked as planned.
Johnson said Monday that security appeared to be a little lax at the hotel that has hosted the annual media event for decades","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/04/27/congress/mike-johnson-white-house-correspondents-dinner-shooting-security-00893153","_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530002","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530003","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>looked a little loose” and called on the Secret Service to “tighten up and reevaluate these things.” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said Sunday that he was in the process of scheduling a bipartisan briefing with the Secret Service this week “regarding security protocols and law enforcement matters related to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
Leavitt said Monday that the White House did not select a single “designated survivor” in the line of succession to prepare for a possible mass casualty event, as it does at other major gatherings such as the State of the Union address.
“Those conversations took place before the dinner,” he said at Monday’s press conference. “There were several members of the Cabinet in the line of succession who did not attend for various personal reasons, so it was not necessary to designate a survivor as we had several members who were not already there.”
Leavitt said Trump was satisfied with the response from law enforcement on Saturday, but said there was no question of changing security protocols.
Chief of Staff Susie Wills is calling a meeting","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/27/white-house-convenes-meeting-to-discuss-protocol-after-whcd-shooting-00892835","_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530004","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530005","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>call a meeting with leadership from the White House operations team, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security earlier this week to discuss “protocols and practices” for major events involving the president.
California resident Cole Thomas Allen, the suspect in Saturday’s shooting who was captured at the scene after a shootout with law enforcement, appeared in court for the first time Monday afternoon","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/27/correspondents-dinner-shooting-hearing-00892838","_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530006","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530007","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>His first court appearance is scheduled for Monday afternoon..
Meanwhile, law enforcement is looking into a manifesto","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/26/correspondents-dinner-shooting-trump-blanche-00892236","_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530008","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f530009","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>looking at a manifesto In which Allen reportedly wrote that his intention was to target administration officials in this program.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang, a CBS News reporter, said a sunday statement","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://whca.press/2026/04/27/statement-on-whca-dinner/","_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f53000a","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f53000b","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>a sunday statement That “the WHCA board will meet to assess what happened and how to move forward.”
Asked whether Trump had a specific location in mind for the rescheduled dinner — and whether he would consider holding it at the White House — Leavitt reiterated the president’s focus on ensuring that construction could proceed on a planned $400 million ballroom on the site of the demolished East Wing. Republicans have thrown their support behind the project","Add":{"Target": :"New","Property":(),"url": :"https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/27/trump-white-house-ballroom-support-00893013","_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f53000c","_Type": :"33ac701a-72c1-316a-a3a5-13918cf384df"},"_Identification": :"0000019d-d04e-df48-a9bf-decf0f53000d","_Type": :"02ec1f82-5e56-3b8c-af6e-6fc7c8772266"}”>threw their support behind the projectWhich has been put on hold due to a pending lawsuit in the wake of the shooting.
