Summary of the day so far
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The suspect in the shooting at last night’s White House correspondents’ dinner has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. Preliminary findings suggest that the shooter targeted Donald Trump and officials in his administration, according to acting US attorney general Todd Blanche.
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The suspect’s writings, reportedly found inside his hotel room, are being examined as part of the investigation into the attack. An alleged manifesto was reported earlier in which the suspect called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and created a list of targets for the shooting, formatted from highest to lowest priority, with Trump administration officials at the top.
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Trump and his allies have repeatedly cited the shooting as evidence for why a White House ballroom is necessary. In a letter shared by Blanche, the DOJ pressured the National Trust for Historic Preservation to end its lawsuit challenging the $400m construction project and insisted that the ballroom is “essential for the safety and security of the president.”
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In a statement, Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said “Last night’s shooting at the Washington Hilton was a harrowing moment for everyone in attendance,” adding “We are proud of everyone in that room”.
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Trump will make an appearance later tonight on the CBS News program 60 Minutes, according to Steven Cheung, the White House communications director.
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Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to the US will go ahead as planned. Earlier, the palace said a “number of discussions” were taking place to discuss how last night’s shooting may or may not affect security planning, with the British monarch due to arrive in the US tomorrow.
Key events
Alleged gunman wrote anti-Christian ‘manifesto’, says Trump
Donald Trump has said the suspect accused of trying to attack administration officials at the White House correspondents dinner had an anti-Christian manifesto and “a lot of hatred in his heart”.
The president told Fox News that the suspect was “a sick guy” and that his family previously expressed concerns about him to law enforcement officials.
“When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians,” Trump said.
The suspect – identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of California – was arrested at the scene of the Washington DC event after being stopped well short of the hotel ballroom hosting it.
The manifesto was sent to Allen’s family members shortly before the attack, a law enforcement official told Reuters. In it, the suspect called himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin”, the official said, as mentioned earlier.
“Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” the manifesto read, according to the official.
Targets listed in the manifesto included administration officials – although not FBI director Kash Patel – prioritised from highest-ranking to lowest, the official said.
The manifesto mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held, the official added.
Obama denounces correspondents’ dinner shooting
Barack Obama has taken to social media to decry the Washington DC shooting and say violence has no place in the US democracy.
The former Democratic president posted on X:
Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy. It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.
Summary of the day so far
-
The suspect in the shooting at last night’s White House correspondents’ dinner has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. Preliminary findings suggest that the shooter targeted Donald Trump and officials in his administration, according to acting US attorney general Todd Blanche.
-
The suspect’s writings, reportedly found inside his hotel room, are being examined as part of the investigation into the attack. An alleged manifesto was reported earlier in which the suspect called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and created a list of targets for the shooting, formatted from highest to lowest priority, with Trump administration officials at the top.
-
Trump and his allies have repeatedly cited the shooting as evidence for why a White House ballroom is necessary. In a letter shared by Blanche, the DOJ pressured the National Trust for Historic Preservation to end its lawsuit challenging the $400m construction project and insisted that the ballroom is “essential for the safety and security of the president.”
-
In a statement, Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said “Last night’s shooting at the Washington Hilton was a harrowing moment for everyone in attendance,” adding “We are proud of everyone in that room”.
-
Trump will make an appearance later tonight on the CBS News program 60 Minutes, according to Steven Cheung, the White House communications director.
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Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to the US will go ahead as planned. Earlier, the palace said a “number of discussions” were taking place to discuss how last night’s shooting may or may not affect security planning, with the British monarch due to arrive in the US tomorrow.
Oz Pearlman, a mentalist who was performing a trick for Trump during the White House correspondents’ dinner, spoke to CNN about his experience.
“I didn’t hear any shots or see what looked like a shooter. I thought there was about to be a bomb,” Pearlman said. “I really very much thought, ‘oh my god, it’s about to explode,’ because of the way that it was being approached. It wasn’t like, guns out. It was like to stop someone.”
“They bring the president down directly in front of me, and we just look at each other for about two seconds, and my mind [is like], ‘Oh, no. Are we about to die?” he added. “I thought it was about to explode. That was really my instinct.”
After Trump was taken away, Pearlman said there was “chaos” backstage for several minutes, during which he didn’t know the president’s condition. “No one really knew what had happened for an extended period, which was kind of jarring,” he said.
Senator and close Trump ally Lindsey Graham also posted in support of building the new White House ballroom, writing that he is in “total agreement” with the president’s “assessment that the presidential ballroom at the White House is a national security necessity.”
“This facility would accommodate large events like the White House Correspondents Dinner and others in the most secure fashion for this president and future presidents,” he wrote in an X post. “The Secret Service will be one of the largest beneficiaries of the ballroom because they will have immense control over the security environment of future events with a very hardened facility.”
“The most obvious benefit is the President can attend future functions like this without ever having to leave the White House grounds,” he added.
Again, the White House correspondents’ dinner is not hosted by the White House, but by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), so it remains unclear whether a White House ballroom would be used for such events hosted by independent organizations.
The US Department of Justice is pressuring the National Trust for Historic Preservation to end its lawsuit challenging Trump’s construction of a new ballroom at the White House in the aftermath of last night’s shooting.
In a letter shared by acting attorney general Todd Blanche on X, the DOJ urges the preservation group to drop its case and insists that the ballroom is “essential for the safety and security of the president.”
“When the White House ballroom is complete, President Trump and his successors will no longer need to venture beyond the safety of the White House perimeter to attend large gatherings at the Washington Hilton ballroom,” Brett Shumate, a top lawyer with the DOJ, wrote. “The White House ballroom will ensure the safety and security of the President for decades to come and prevent future assassination attempts on the President at the Washington Hilton.”
In its lawsuit, the organization argued that Trump rushed demolition of the historic East Wing in October over objections from preservationists who urged the White House to pause and submit plans to federal review panels.
Notably, the White House correspondents’ dinner is hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), not the White House itself, though the president is traditionally in attendance. It is unclear whether a White House ballroom would be used for events not hosted by the president.
Victoria Bekiempis
Donald and Melania Trump appeared in good spirits as they settled in on the high table at the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington, DC on Saturday night, despite the event already being steeped in controversy over the US president being invited when he frequently makes aggressive verbal and legal attacks on the media that covers him.
But smiles turned to shock and fear, Trump dived to the ground and guests ducked under tables after loud bangs were heard. Here is a timeline of how the White House press dinner shooting unfolded:
FBI agents are currently inspecting the neighborhood and questioning local residents where the alleged shooter, Cole Allen, was located in Torrance, California. Members of the media are also outside the address connected to Allen.
C2 Education, the tutoring company where the suspected shooter allegedly worked, said in a statement shared with multiple news outlets that it is cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation.
“We were shocked to hear the news of the horrifying incident that transpired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” the statement said. “We are cooperating fully with law enforcement to assist them in their investigation. Violence of any kind is never the answer.”
Trump speaks to 60 Minutes about shooting
Donald Trump will make an appearance on the CBS News program 60 Minutes, according to Steven Cheung, the White House communications director.
“President Trump sits down with 60 Minutes to discuss what happened at the White House Correspondents Association dinner last night,” Cheung wrote in a post on X, accompanied by an image of the president being interviewed.
Ben Smee
Leaders from around the world have condemned the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night as an act of “political violence” and expressed relief that Donald Trump, officials and journalists were unharmed.
The president and his wife, Melania, as well as members of the US cabinet, were evacuated from the ballroom at the Washington Hilton on Saturday after gunshots were heard from the hotel lobby.
Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, sent a message of solidarity to Trump after the incident, according to his chief secretary, Darren Jones. “These are remarkable scenes. The prime minister has, this morning, sent a message to the president of the United States in solidarity for the events that took place,” Jones told Sky News.
Buckingham Palace said King Charles was “greatly relieved” the Trumps and other guests were unharmed.
Read more:
King Charles’s US state visit to go ahead as planned, Buckingham Palace confirms
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to the US will go ahead as planned.
Earlier, the palace said a “number of discussions” were taking place to discuss how last night’s shooting may or may not affect security planning, with the British monarch due to arrive in the US tomorrow.
“Following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of government, we can confirm the state visit by their majesties will proceed as planned,” a palace spokesperson said.
“The king and queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway tomorrow.”
The suspected shooter is being held at a Metropolitan police department station in north-west Washington DC, law enforcement sources have told CBS News. He will be transported later today to a detention facility in the southeast of the capital.
The alleged gunman will be transported by the US Marshals Service to federal court on Monday, where he is expected to be arraigned before a federal judge, the justice department has said.
