FBI affidavit accuses Cole Allen of wanting to kill Trump and expressing rage at ‘a pedophile, rapist, and traitor’
In his interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Donald Trump lambasted Norah O’Donnell for asking him to react to the words of the man accused of trying to assassinate him, Cole Allen, who wrote in his manifesto: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
After telling the CBS News interviewer that only “horrible people” would ask him about that, the president said: “Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
O’Donnell did a double take and said: “Oh you think – do you think he was referring to you?”
“I’m not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile,” Trump replied. “You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things.”
Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that the partial release of documents from the federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the late child sex offender he socialized with for nearly two decades, had “exonerated” him and implicated only Democrats. In fact, a large number of documents have not been released and a number of Republicans have faced questions over their relationship with Epstein, including Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick.
The president then attacked O’Donnell again, saying: “You should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”
Trump was apparently happy enough with his answer to O’Donnell’s question that the exchange was included in a highlight reel from the interview posted on the White House’s YouTube channel.
Despite the president’s anger at being asked about what he took to be a description of him, which has become common among his critics amid widespread anger at his long friendship with Epstein, an FBI affidavit in support of a criminal complaint against Allen, filed in federal court on Monday, quotes the same part of the manifesto as part of its case that the suspect planned to assassinate Trump.
According to the affidavit, Allen sent a note to family and friends by email shortly before he attempted to charge into the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night in Washington, is which he described his motivation as follows:
On to why I did any of this:
I am a citizen of the United States of America.
What my representatives do reflects on me.
And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.
(Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.) While I’m discussing this, I’ll also go over my expected rules of engagement (probably in a terrible format, but I’m not military so too bad.)
Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest
As numerous critics of Trump were quick to point out on social media, the judge in the 2023 civil trial in which Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E Jean Carroll, wrote that the jury did, in fact, find that Trump had raped Carroll, in the way that word is understood in “common modern parlance”.
While no evidence has been released by Trump’s justice department to show that he took part in Epstein’s sexual assault of minors, Trump did tell New York magazine in 2002 that he was aware that the friend of 15 years he called a “[t]errific guy”, and “a lot of fun to be with”, had a reputation as someone who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side”.
Key events
CBS fails to correct Trump as he repeats false claim BBC used AI to put words in his mouth
During his interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Donald Trump repeated a false claim he has made repeatedly in recent months: that a BBC documentary on his remarks to supporters before the Capitol riot on January 6 2021 used AI to put words in his mouth.
“How about the BBC?” Trump asked the interviewer Norah O’Donnell. “They had me saying a horrible statement. And I said, ‘I never said that’. It turned out they gave me an AI, a little AI treatment where they had my lips speaking words of hate, tremendous hate, that I never said.”
“They actually had me making a major statement and it wasn’t me. It was my face. It was my lips. My lips were perfectly in sync with the words. I said, ‘I can’t believe it.’” Trump added.
“I hear you, Mr President,” O’Donnell replied, either unaware or unwilling to say that Trump’s allegation about the BBC documentary was entirely false.
In fact, the BBC did not use AI, but spliced together two parts of Trump’s speech that day, and has apologized for the misleading edit, which combined words the president did speak from sections of his speech almost an hour apart. No words were inserted in Trump’s mouth, through the use of AI or any other technique.
Trump, however, has said on multiple occasions since he filed a $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit against the BBC over the way the documentary edited his speech, that the British public broadcaster used AI to fabricate statements he never made.
“I’m suing the BBC for putting words in my mouth, literally. They put words in my mouth. They had me saying things that I never said coming out. I guess they used AI or something,” Trump told reporters in December. “They actually put terrible words in my mouth having to do with January 6th that I didn’t say.”
Sitting with the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, at a St Patrick’s Day event in March, the president repeated the false claim about a matter he is engaged in active litigation over: “They put words in my mouth, and they said I said some pretty bad things, and I didn’t say them. It was AI generated. And I said ‘I never said that.’ In fact, some of my people said, ‘Wow, that was pretty bad stuff you said.”
“And then we found out it was AI generated,” Trump said, incorrectly. “And they admit they made a mistake, BBC.”
The Epstein ties that bind Trump to the UK’s royal family and government
As our colleague David Smith reports, beneath the pageantry of the royal visit, there are also tensions over “the continuing scandal surrounding the king’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein”.
Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman, is convening Epstein survivors on Capitol Hill on Tuesday and urging the king to meet them. He said: “The British people have actually been very strong on this Epstein matter, demanding accountability and justice – stronger than the American government in terms of taking action. So the king doesn’t have to get into any details of his brother’s case but it’s just standing with survivors and calling for accountability around the world.”
The British journalist Emily Maitlis said on the News Agents podcast she had been told that, until two weeks ago, Queen Camilla was “very keen” to meet victims of Epstein alongside Melania Trump. Maitlis added: “She said, ‘I’ve spent my life fighting for women’s voices, I’ve spent my life fighting for victims, we will find a way to do it.’”
But palace officials have made clear there will be no meetings with Epstein survivors during the trip, citing legal concerns over ongoing investigations in the US and Britain.
Epstein was of course also linked to Donald Trump, since the two men socialized together for nearly two decades, from the 1980s through the early 2000s.
Last summer, Trump told reporters that he was irked decades ago when Epstein hired young, female spa attendants away from Mar-a-Lago, including Virginia Robert Giuffre, who became one of Epstein’s most prominent accusers.
Giuffre, who died last year, said in a legal complaint that she was hired away from the Mar-a-Lago spa by Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell in 2000, when she was 16. Giuffre also alleged in her complaint that she was first abused by Epstein and Maxwell together, and then “lent out to other powerful men”, including Prince Andrew.
While Charles is the UK’s head of state, but not its head of government, the current UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, is also bound up in an Epstein-related scandal. After Trump was elected in 2024, Starmer decided to appoint another old friend of Epstein’s, Peter Mandelson, as the UK’s ambassador to the US.
But the release of documents from Epstein’s estate and by the Department of Justice over the past year revealed the depth of Mandelson’s ties to the late child sex offender, forcing Starmer to fire him.
After the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had sent Epstein a bawdy drawing and note for his 50th birthday in 2003, which the president insisted in a lawsuit was both fake and did not exist, the late sex offender’s estate provided the entire bound album of birthday greetings from Epstein’s friends and associates. It included not just Trump’s note, but also a lengthy, gushing letter from Mandelson.
Pirro says more charges could be filed against Cole Allen, accused of trying to assassinate Trump
Longtime Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, now the US attorney for the District of Columbia, told Fox News viewers on Monday that the government expected to file more charges against Cole Allen, the suspected gunman who was charged on Monday with trying to assassinate Donald Trump.
Speaking to her former colleague Laura Ingraham, Pirro expressed confidence that prosecutors would be able to convicted Allen, who was formally charged with three crimes in federal court on Monday:
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Attempt to assassinate the president of the United States
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Transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony
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Discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence
An FBI agent’s affidavit in support of a criminal complaint against Allen detailed the probable cause for the charges.
To establish the first charge, the affidavit quotes from a part of a manifesto Allen allegedly sent to family members shortly before he was tackled and subdued on Saturday night outside the Hilton Hotel ballroom where the president and senior officials were attending the White House correspondents’ dinner.
“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” the manifesto attributed to Allen reads. “Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest”, it adds.
The grounds for the second charge include details of two guns purchased by Allen in California that match those that authorities took from him after he was subdued on Saturday, and his travel across state lines by train.
There is, as a reporter noted at a news conference earlier with Pirro and the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, no evidence in the affidavit that Cole did fire his weapon. Instead, the account alleged that Cole ran through a security checkpoint “holding a long gun”. It continues:
As he did so, U.S. Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot. U.S. Secret Service Officer V.G. was shot once in the chest; Officer V.G. was wearing a ballistic vest at the time. 14. Officer V.G. drew his service weapon and fired multiple times at ALLEN, who fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries but was not shot. ALLEN was subsequently arrested.
Ingraham also reminded Pirro that juries in Washington DC have rejected charges against anti-Trump protesters, like a man who tossed a sandwich at a federal officer. Pirro said that this case was different, in her estimation, because the thwarted attack took place near where hundreds of journalists had gathered for the dinner.
Trump takes King Charles on White House tour that includes portrait of himself after 2024 assassination attempt
During their brief visit to the White House on Monday, King Charles and Queen Camilla were taken past a large portrait of Donald Trump based on a news photograph of his defiant response to an attempted assassination in 2024.
After tea, the king and queen were then treated to a tour of the White House kitchen garden on the south lawn, which featured a look at a new White House-shaped beehive, and a chat with the White House kitchen staff who harvest the honey generated by the bees.
At one point, according to a news wire photographer, the US president dropped a bee the group was being shown.
FBI affidavit accuses Cole Allen of wanting to kill Trump and expressing rage at ‘a pedophile, rapist, and traitor’
In his interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Donald Trump lambasted Norah O’Donnell for asking him to react to the words of the man accused of trying to assassinate him, Cole Allen, who wrote in his manifesto: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
After telling the CBS News interviewer that only “horrible people” would ask him about that, the president said: “Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
O’Donnell did a double take and said: “Oh you think – do you think he was referring to you?”
“I’m not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile,” Trump replied. “You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, let’s say, Epstein or other things.”
Trump has repeatedly made the false claim that the partial release of documents from the federal investigations into Jeffrey Epstein, the late child sex offender he socialized with for nearly two decades, had “exonerated” him and implicated only Democrats. In fact, a large number of documents have not been released and a number of Republicans have faced questions over their relationship with Epstein, including Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick.
The president then attacked O’Donnell again, saying: “You should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”
Trump was apparently happy enough with his answer to O’Donnell’s question that the exchange was included in a highlight reel from the interview posted on the White House’s YouTube channel.
Despite the president’s anger at being asked about what he took to be a description of him, which has become common among his critics amid widespread anger at his long friendship with Epstein, an FBI affidavit in support of a criminal complaint against Allen, filed in federal court on Monday, quotes the same part of the manifesto as part of its case that the suspect planned to assassinate Trump.
According to the affidavit, Allen sent a note to family and friends by email shortly before he attempted to charge into the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night in Washington, is which he described his motivation as follows:
On to why I did any of this:
I am a citizen of the United States of America.
What my representatives do reflects on me.
And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.
(Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.) While I’m discussing this, I’ll also go over my expected rules of engagement (probably in a terrible format, but I’m not military so too bad.)
Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest
As numerous critics of Trump were quick to point out on social media, the judge in the 2023 civil trial in which Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E Jean Carroll, wrote that the jury did, in fact, find that Trump had raped Carroll, in the way that word is understood in “common modern parlance”.
While no evidence has been released by Trump’s justice department to show that he took part in Epstein’s sexual assault of minors, Trump did tell New York magazine in 2002 that he was aware that the friend of 15 years he called a “[t]errific guy”, and “a lot of fun to be with”, had a reputation as someone who “likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side”.
King Charles appears to fight Trump to a draw in latest of president’s handshake battles
Video of the handshake between the UK and US heads of state appears to show that Donald Trump did engage in his usual attempt to assert dominance by yanking the hand of King Charles towards himself, as if in a tug of war, but the king appeared ready for the maneuver the president is known for, and quickly pulled his hand back while still maintaining his grip.
Trump’s aggressive handshake, and how to combat it, has been studied in advance by visiting world leaders and heads of state since his first term, following a playbook created by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Trump greets King Charles and Queen Camilla at the White House
King Charles and Queen Camilla just arrived at the White House, where they were greeted by Donald and Melania Trump. The heads of state and their spouses made some brief small talk, which was not audible on the live stream, posed for photographs and then went inside.
Press gathers for arrival of King Charles at White House
Reporters are gathering now at the White House to cover the arrival of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
According to a note from the White House pool reporter, the media was “gathering at the Palm Room doors for the King and Queen of the United Kingdom’s arrival”.
The Palm Room is one of the many parts of the White House Donald Trump has put his personal stamp on. This photo from January shows that it now features a photograph of the US president with Vladimir Putin.
Live video of the arrival is streaming now at the top of this page.
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s motorcade is pulling up to the White House, where they are scheduled to meet with Donald Trump.
The royals are set to have tea with the president, and visit an apiary on the White House grounds. The Trump administration has helpfully posted a video of the bees and the honey they produce, which seems perfect for tea:
Surprisingly, all of this will take place out of view of the press. Unlike with many foreign dignitaries, Trump and Charles won’t be meeting on camera, for the reasons discussed below:
Alleged press gala attacker stormed security checkpoint with long gun, acting attorney general says
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, offered some details of how the attack on the White House correspondents’ dinner unfolded.
Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused in the attack, traveled from Los Angeles to Washington DC by train via Chicago, arriving 24 April, Blanche said. He had a reservation at the gala’s venue, the Washington Hilton, from that day through the 26th.
Blanche outlined how the attack unfolded:
Approximately at 8.40 on the night of 25 April, Allen approached the security checkpoint on the terrace level of the hotel, which is, again, a floor above where the dinner was taking place. He ran through the magnetometers holding a long gun. As he did so, US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot.
One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic test that worked. This heroic officer, who was hit, fired five times at Allen, who was not shot, but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested.
Man who allegedly targeted Trump at press gala facing life in prison, acting attorney general says
The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, has just convened a press conference where he is outlining the charges against Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old who allegedly attacked the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday in an effort to kill Donald Trump.
“Today, the Department of Justice filed three federal charges in United States federal court against Cole Thomas Allen. The first count is attempted assassination of the president of the United States. This count is punishable by up to life in prison,” Blanche said.
The two other charges Allen faces are interstate transportation of a firearm, which is punishable by as many as 10 years in prison, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, which is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life in prison.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive for state visit to US
King Charles and Queen Camilla have just stepped off the plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as they begin a four-day state visit. Here’s footage from the scene:
Here’s a rundown of what they are expected to do – and not do – during their trip:
Sky News reports that Sean Curran, the director of the Secret Service, has just arrived at the White House.
His visit may be connected to the meeting with security leaders that the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is convening today.
Trump appointed Curran as Secret Service director shortly after he began his second term. You probably have seen him before – he’s on the right in this photo:
Cole Tomas Allen has yet to respond to the charges against him, according to Reuters.
Inside the courtroom, prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine briefly laid out the allegations against him, saying:
He attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J Trump.
Suspect in correspondents’ dinner attack charged with attempting to assassinate Trump
Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old arrested after allegedly attacking Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner, has been charged with trying to assassinate the president, and firearms offenses, Reuters reports.
A judge granted prosecutors’ request to temporarily keep Allen behind bars, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday on his continued detention.
Allen sat wearing a blue prison jumpsuit at a table where he was flanked by US Marshals during his appearance in a Washington DC federal courtroom, according to Reuters.
The Trump administration’s argument that the attack on the correspondent’s dinner illustrates the necessity of building a ballroom on the White House’s east wing is not exactly winning rave reviews from government watchdogs.
“Trump using this moment of chaos and panic at the White House Correspondents Dinner to push for support for his ballroom vanity project is a grossly cynical exploitation of a genuinely alarming incident for personal political gain,” said Lisa Gilbert, the co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive non-profit opposed to the ballroom.
“The White House correspondent’s dinner in particular is an event that would never, ever be appropriate to host at the White House. There is already too much chumminess between our political leaders in Washington and the press corps that is supposed to hold them to account – pitching the White House as a venue for the event is a colossal conflict of interest that would impede the core function of the free press in a democracy.”
Trump says Jimmy Kimmel ‘should be immediately fired’ for joke told before press gala attack
Donald Trump just called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired for a joke made in a monologue prior to Saturday’s attack on the White House correspondent’s dinner, in which the comedian said first lady Melania Trump resembled an “expectant widow”.
Alleging that the gunman who tried to storm the gala with the White House press corps “was there for a very obvious and sinister reason”, the 79-year-old Trump wrote on Truth Social:
I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.
It’s not the first time the Trump administration has come after Kimmel for humor criticizing the Republican president. Here’s a look back at that September incident in which ABC took Kimmel off the air then reinstated him amid an outcry over his right to free speech:
