See the moment U.S. President Donald Trump was rushed from the White House correspondents dinner during a security incident.
Reuters
The day after a man armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives tried to storm a dinner attended by U.S. President Donald Trump, Washington is trying to understand how, for the third time in less than two years, a gunman was able to get within such close proximity to Mr. Trump.
The President was unharmed after being rushed from the stage at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on Saturday as gunshots rang out in a nearby hallway.
But the incident is reviving questions about his security arrangements, which have already been tightened up after he survived two assassination attempts during the 2024 election campaign.
On Sunday, acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche said that the suspect appeared to be targeting Mr. Trump and other members of the administration, and had travelled to Washington from California for that purpose.
The Associated Press, citing two unnamed law enforcement officials, identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.
Who is Cole Tomas Allen, the alleged attacker at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Mr. Blanche, speaking on NBC’s Meet the Press, said the suspect had been staying as a guest at the Washington Hilton, where the event was held. The hotel, about 2.5 kilometres from the White House, is also where John Hinckley shot and wounded then-president Ronald Reagan in 1981.
“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the President,” Mr. Blanche said of the suspect arrested on Saturday.
The suspect allegedly tried to charge through the security perimeter outside the ballroom where the dinner was taking place before shots were fired and he was tackled to the ground.
None of the many top administration officials at the event, including Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was hurt, though one Secret Service agent was shot. Protected by his bullet-proof vest, the agent is recovering in hospital.
Mr. Blanche said the suspect took a train from California to Chicago and then went to Washington. He is believed to have bought his weapons in the last two years and is not cooperating with investigators, Mr. Blanche said.
At a news conference on Saturday night, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said the suspect would be charged with at least two counts, using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. She said more charges might be added and that he would appear in court on Monday.
Washington’s interim police chief, Jeffrey Carroll, said that the suspect was not shot during the incident.
The President released security camera footage showing a figure running down a hallway in the hotel before a large group of officers draw their weapons and rush towards the person. He also released a photo of the suspect lying shirtless on the floor with his arms secured behind his back.
Mr. Trump posted a photo on social media showing law enforcement personnel detaining the suspect.DONALD J TRUMP via Truth Social/Reuters
People were able to enter and leave the hotel without going through security or being vetted by the Secret Service. Only when entering the ballroom did attendees have to go through metal detectors and be checked by the Secret Service.
By contrast, other locations visited by Mr. Trump often screen people before they are allowed in the building. When he attended the draw for the FIFA World Cup at the Kennedy Center in December, for instance, the Secret Service maintained a secure perimeter along the outer edge of the parking lot.
At the White House later on Saturday, Mr. Trump said the hotel was “not a particularly secure building” and that the incident reinforces the need for his planned ballroom at the White House.
The contentious project, which would be almost as large as the entire existing building, is currently tied up in litigation after Mr. Trump ordered part of the White House demolished last year to make way for it.
“This is why we have to have all the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House,” he said. “We need the ballroom.”
Mr. Trump described the presidency as a “dangerous profession” and suggested he was uncomfortable with too much security. “When you’re impactful, they go after you. When you’re not impactful, they leave you alone,” he said. “I can’t be so concerned that I can’t function.”
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social that he had requested that we “LET THE SHOW GO ON.” On the orders of police, however, the event was cancelled. The President later said at the White House that he hoped to reschedule within the next 30 days.
How the shooting at the White House correspondents' dinner unfolded.
The Associated Press
During a rally in July, 2024, in Butler, Pa., Thomas Crooks, 20, opened fire on Mr. Trump from the roof of a nearby building, grazing Mr. Trump’s ear and killing a member of the audience. Mr. Crooks was then gunned down by the Secret Service.
The ensuing firestorm over how a sniper had managed to get so close to Mr. Trump forced the then-head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, to resign.
That September, Mr. Trump again survived an attempt on his life after a man named Ryan Routh laid in wait next to one of his golf courses, in West Palm Beach, Fla., with a rifle.
Mr. Routh was discovered by the Secret Service shortly before Mr. Trump came into his view. Agents opened fire on Mr. Routh, who fled and was captured shortly after. He was convicted last year and is currently serving a life sentence in prison.
These incidents and others – including the assassination last year of MAGA media personality Charlie Kirk – have repeatedly raised questions about the U.S.’s overheated political rhetoric, culture of violence and easy access to guns. But after each, little has appeared to change.
Mr. Trump on Saturday struck an unusually magnanimous tone, repeatedly praising the event’s organizers – despite usually referring to political reporters as “fake news” – and saying the violence had united politicians, media and police.
“This was an event dedicated to freedom of speech that was supposed to bring together members of both parties with members of the press and, in a certain way, it did,” he said.
Buckingham Palace discussing royal visit with Washington after shooting near Trump
The dinner on Saturday had just gotten underway with Mr. Trump, who was attending for the first time as president, at the head table on a stage at the front of the ballroom, when shots rang out.
Secret Service agents sprinted through the room, ran on-stage and hustled away Mr. Trump, Ms. Trump, Mr. Vance and other senior administration officials. Other attendees dove under tables for cover as officers yelled “get down!”
At the White House later in the evening, Mr. Trump, still dressed in black tie, said that when he first heard the gunshots, he assumed they were the sound of a serving tray falling. He said Ms. Trump told him, “that’s a bad noise.”
“It was very quick. There wasn’t a lot of time to be thinking,” he told reporters.
Mr. Trump said the suspect was believed to be a “lone wolf” and his motive was not known. He said he has spoken with the officer who was shot, and that the agent was “in great shape.”
At first, event organizers said they intended to continue with the evening but were ultimately dissuaded by police. Much of the press corps, in black tie and cocktail dresses, rushed to the White House instead for Mr. Trump’s news conference.
“Everybody is safe. The President will be having a press briefing at the White House in 30 minutes – that is not a joke,” Weijia Jiang, a CBS correspondent and the president of the association, told the room. “He insists that we will reschedule this event in the next 30 days and that he wanted to do it tonight, he wanted to continue despite that news, but has to follow security protocol.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney joined a chorus of world leaders condemning the violence and expressing relief that Mr. Trump was safe. “Political violence has no place in any democracy and my thoughts are with all those who have been shaken by this disturbing event,” he said in a statement.
Mr. Trump skipped the other five correspondents’ dinners during his presidency after repeatedly deriding reporters as “fake news.” He attended the dinner before his first presidency, when then-president Barack Obama mocked Mr. Trump for promoting the birther conspiracy theory.
Other administration officials at the dinner on Saturday were Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and FBI Director Kash Patel.