U.S. President Barack Obama will hold a prime-time news conference on April 29, his 100th day in office, the White House said Thursday.

Barack Obama swears in as the 44th president of the United States of America in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. Jan. 20, 2009. [Xinhua]

The event is scheduled at 8:00 p.m. U.S. eastern time (2400 GMT), White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at a press briefing.

"Next Wednesday evening at 8 o'clock, the President will hold a news conference in the East Room of the White House," he said.

This will be Obama's third prime-time news conference since he was sworn in as president on January. 20.

The president will have a "town hall" style meeting with local residents in St. Louis, Mo., earlier on the same day before the news conference, Gibbs added.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2009)