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By Jesus Mesa, Leonardo Feldman, Peter Aitken, Adeola Adeosun, Suzanne Blake, and Brendan Cole
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A gunman breached security at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and opened fire, forcing the Secret Service to evacuate President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet, thwarting what appeared to be an assassination attempt on Washington’s glitziest night.
The suspected shooter has been arrested and is under investigation.
Trump, who has a famously combative relationship with the press, was attending the dinner for the first time as president, alongside first lady Melania Trump. He was surrounded by security and hustled out of the ballroom along with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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While the motive of the shooter was unknown, Trump survived two known assassination attempts as a candidate for president in 2024, including a narrow escape in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a would-be assassin's bullet grazed his ear.
A stunning video showed the magnitude of the security breach that allowed the gunman to penetrate the rings of weapons and sensors thrown around one of America’s highest-profile events, with almost the entire presidential line of succession in attendance. The video showed the man charging through a metal detector. He later sprinted toward the ballroom—where the president was seated at the dais—before opening fire.
Trump, his officials and reporters in the room drew parallels to previous attempts on the president’s life.
The head of the Secret Service resigned after the Butler assassination attempt amid a backlash over the security failings that allowed the gunman in that case to wound the president.
Trump spoke at a press conference after the incident, commenting on why he keeps becoming a target of assassination attempts, alluding to President Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated in the nation's capital at Ford's Theatre in 1865.
"I’ve studied people like Abraham Lincoln. It’s the people that make the biggest impact, they're the ones that they go after. They don't go after the ones that don't do much 'cause they like it that way. And when you look at the people that have either, whether it was an attempt or a successful attempt, they're very impactful people. Just take a look at the names here. The big names, and, uh, I hate to say I'm honored by that, but I've done a lot. We've done a lot with... We've taken this country, and we were a laughingstock for years, and now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. We've changed this country. And there are a lot of people that are not happy about that."
Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was taken into custody, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said the suspect was being charged with two counts.
"Right now, the defendant is being charged with two counts, 924 C, using a firearm during a crime of violence, and a second crime under 111, which is assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon. Now, as you all know, there was an individual, a uniform Secret Service officer who was shot, and fortunately, he is doing all right, and he will be fine. But it is clear based upon what we know so far. But this individual was intent on doing as much harm and as much damage as he could. What thousands of people were situated to hear the president of the United States? Because that checkpoint worked, there was no one who was injured, and it was... he will be arraigned on Monday and many more charges will follow as we learn more."
Shortly after the incident, law enforcement said everyone should leave the premises "according to protocol."
Several Newsweek reporters were attending the event when the incident took place.
Newsweek reporters in the room said a "very loud" noise, which they identified as a gunshot, sounded outside of the ballroom. The shooter was taken into custody.
Security at the event was limited to checks as attendees entered the ballroom where the dinner took place, Newsweek reporters in the room reported.
After the shooting, Erika Kirk, who attended, was seen being comforted by FBI Director Kash Patel. She was described as being "deeply emotional" in the moment.
Some pre-event gatherings inside the venue, where the likes of Karoline Leavitt and Steven Cheung attended, were in places that were also unsecured.
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Police moved onto the stage and the dinner was halted mid-program after the incident.
After the shooting in Butler, a bloodied Trump raised his fist and rallied the crowd in an iconic show of defiance. He issued a similarly defiant message on social media after the incident on Friday, and was reportedly willing to return if the event continued.
"Quite an evening in D.C. Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job," the president posted on the platform. "They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been apprehended, and I have recommended that we 'LET THE SHOW GO ON' but, will entirely be guided by Law Enforcement. They will make a decision shortly. Regardless of that decision, the evening will be much different than planned, and we’ll just, plain, have to do it again. President DONALD J. TRUMP."
On Sunday afternoon, Representative James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and House Oversight Committee chairman, in an X post wrote the committee "has requested a briefing from U.S. Secret Service" following the shooting. "DHS, including Secret Service, has been unfunded for more than 70 days now. It’s time to stop the games & fund DHS," he added.
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Trump's Relationship With the White House Correspondents' Dinner
Trump’s relationship with the White House Correspondents Dinner, an annual gathering of D.C.’s media and political elite has been long, bitter and historic.
Trump last attended in 2015, but his most famous appearance before this year was in 2011 when he was lampooned by President Obama. Former adviser and ally Roger Stone later told Newsweek the humiliation Trump suffered that evening convinced him to run for president, upending Obama’s legacy and reshaping the country and the world for the past decade.
When he became president, Trump did his best to undermine the White House press corps, repeatedly lambasting journalists as “fake news”, threatening reporters, denying access to media companies, broadening the credentialed press corps beyond the traditional media and importantly boycotting the annual dinner, denying it all its pomp and much of its pageantry.
The shooting, and Trump’s defiance, including his promise to attend a rescheduled version of the event, briefly helped the deeply adversarial White House press corps find common cause with the president. WHCA President Weija Jiang drew applause when she announced, initially, the proceedings would resume and then that the president would attend the rescheduled event.
“President Trump is doing a good job tonight,” said Van Jones, a former adviser to Barack Obama and frequent Trump critic, on CNN, referring to the president's decision to address the media at the White House on Saturday night.
In a press conference held by the president after the incident, flanked by Patel, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Trump said of the shooting, "They unified us! It was a very beautiful thing to see.”
“There was a tremendous amount of love and coming together.”
He added, "The press has been very responsible in their reporting tonight."
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Trump added he would attend a rescheduled event, noting his comments may have to be adjusted.
"I am ready, willing, and able, and I was all set to really rip it. And I said to my people, This would be the most inappropriate speech ever made, if I said, So I have to save it. I don't know if I could ever be as rough as I was gonna be tonight. I think I'm gonna be probably very nice. I'd be very boring the next time, but we're gonna have a great event. You did a fantastic job. Thank you very much."
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