FBI director gives update on White House correspondents' dinner shooting incident

FBI theatre director speaks after edward d. White put up correspondents’ dinner party shooting incident

Trump calls U.S. Presidency a ‘dangerous profession’

'It was unreal': Inside the shooting incident at the White House correspondents' dinner

Gunfire erupts at White House correspondents' dinner

Trump posts security video of suspect running in hotel

Details emerge on D.C. Shooting suspect, set to appear in court Monday

Police, federal law enforcement speak and take questions about gunfire at correspondents' dinner

'It was very quick,' Trump says of security response at correspondents' dinner

Trump, first lady unharmed after security incident at White House journalists' dinner

'Stay down!': Secret Service remove Trump from White House correspondents' dinner

Trump set to attend White House Correspondents' Dinner | Hanomansing Tonight

Leavitt also confirmed to reporters that there would be a meeting later this week — headed by White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles — to review security protocols around Trump, given the U.S. President is set to attend the World Cup, celebrations related to the country's 250th birthday in July and other major events this year.

Wiles will bring together officials from the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service and the White ​House operations team to "ensure the safety ​and the security of the president," Leavitt said.

Trump thought the security protocols worked as intended on Saturday night, she said, noting that the shooting suspect was "immediately neutralized." Trump, Vice-President JD Vance and others were told to get down, then taken off stage, within seconds of the security incident.

"But if adjustments need to be made to protect the president, they will be made."

Earlier today, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt used a daily media briefing to speak about Saturday night's shooting, calling on the country to tone down the "constant and violent rhetoric" against Trump and his supporters.

"We should not live in a country where such constant fear of political violence permeates our society every single day. We can, and we should, have fierce disagreement in this country. As you all know, we disagree often … but those disagreements must remain peaceful. Debating, peaceful protesting and voting are how we need to settle disagreements — not bullets," she said.

Leavitt did not hold back, however, when characterizing the U.S. President's political opponents.

"The left-wing cult of hatred against the president and all of those who support him and work for him has gotten multiple people hurt and killed, and it almost did so again this weekend," she said.

Leavitt, who is pregnant with her second child, was set to begin a maternity leave this week, but said she wanted to come back to address the weekend's events. 

She was seated next to Trump and his wife, Melania, on stage at the White House Correspondents' dinner when gunfire was heard at the Washington Hilton hotel.

The Associated Press

Allen was arrested Saturday night trying to rush past a security checkpoint inside the hotel with two firearms and knives. 

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that Allen legally bought a .38-calibre semi-automatic pistol in October 2023 and a 12-gauge shotgun last year.

The man accused of opening fire during the White House correspondents' dinner is facing federal charges of attempting to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump, a judge said in court on Monday.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is also facing firearms charges. He was taken into custody after the shooting on Saturday night and is being charged in federal court in Washington. Authorities say an officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the vest but is expected to recover. 

Allen, of Torrance, Calif., is being represented by lawyers with the federal defender's office and sat beside them in court in a blue jail uniform. 

Prosecutors have not revealed a motive. But in a message reviewed by The Associated Press that authorities say was sent by Allen to family members minutes before the attack, he referred to himself as a "Friendly Federal Assassin," made repeated references to the Republican president without naming him and alluded to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions.

Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old from California, was identified as the suspect in the Saturday shooting at the Washington Hilton hotel during the White House correspondents' dinner, where U.S. President Donald Trump and other senior officials were gathered with reporters. 

Thanks for following our updates. Visit cbc.ca/news for continuing coverage. 

Trump told 60 Minutes he wants to do the White House correspondents' dinner again within a month, saying he doesn't want a "crazy person" to be able to cancel the event. 

Saturday was his first time attending the annual dinner as president, after he broke with a long-standing presidential tradition by avoiding it his entire first term. 

"I hope we're going to do it again," he told O'Donnell. "Norah, tell 'em to get it going, and we should do it within 30 days, and they'll have even more security, and they'll have bigger perimeter security. It'll be fine."

Trump levelled some of his usual criticisms at the "liberal" media during the interview, but also said that during the commotion on Saturday he "saw a room that was just totally unified. It was, in one way, very beautiful." 

Trump told 60 Minutes that the suspect's speed, captured on security cameras as he ran through metal detectors at the hotel, was "incredible."

He commended law enforcement for taking him down, and said he didn't fault them for the suspect getting as far as he did before they apprehended him. 

"I think the NFL should sign him up. He was fast. When you look at it on tape, it's almost like a blur," Trump said. 

Trump calls U.S. Presidency a ‘dangerous profession’

U.S. President Donald Trump held a news conference after he was escorted offstage at the White House correspondents' dinner Saturday night when gunshots rang out in the lobby.

When asked whether there's something he can do to change the trajectory of political violence in the U.S., Trump brushed off the notion that violence has gotten worse, but said "hate speech" from Democrats is "very dangerous." 

"Well, you know, you go back 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years, it's always been there. People are assassinated. People are injured. People are hurt," he told 60 Minutes. "And I'm not sure that it's any more now than there was."

O'Donnell says it took 10 seconds for security to flank Trump and 20 seconds to get him out when news broke of an active shooter. 

Trump says he "probably made them act a little bit more slowly" because he wanted to see what was going on. 

"It was a little bit me. I wanted to see what was happening, and I wasn't making it that easy for them," he said. 

Trump said he initially told security, "Wait a minute, wait a minute. Lemme see. Wait a minute," but said he complied when they told him to go down on the floor. 

Trump said in his 60 Minutes interview on CBS that he wasn't worrying during the commotion in the ballroom that there would be injuries.

"I wasn't worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world," he said.

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