Suspect in Washington dinner shooting charged with attempting to assassinate Trump

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Blanche says Saturday's incident shows why Trump is right to push for a White House ballroom, echoing what the president himself said the night of this shooting.

"The ballroom is spectacular and it’s going to be beautiful," Blanche says, but it's also a "meaningful safety issue."

Blanche says holding events like the correspondents' dinner in a secure building on the grounds of the White House would be better than a public space like the Washington Hilton. 

Trump's decision to tear down the historic East Wing and push ahead with a ballroom despite opposition from National Trust for Historic Preservation and others has been a source of a lot of criticism here in D.C. 

The National Trust said, despite Saturday's events, it is going ahead with its lawsuit to try and stop the ballroom construction. Blanche said the Department of Justice will try and head them off in court.

The Department of Justice has filed three charges against Allen: 

Pirro said more charges will be laid as the investigation unfolds. 

Jeanine Pirro, the former Fox News personality turned U.S. Attorney for D.C., says "make no mistake, this was an attempted assassination of the president." 

His "intent was to bring down as many of the high-ranking cabinet officials as he could," Pirro says.

She says "this could have been so much worse" if law enforcement hadn't intercepted Allen when they did.

While Allen ran past the magnetometers set up to screen incoming gala guests, Pirro says federal agents didn't let him get very far.

Pirro says Allen was carrying two firearms, a pistol and a long gun, and other weapons. Trump administration officials were undoubtedly his "targets," according to Allen's manifesto, Pirro says.

Blanche says the "heroic officer who was hit" in his bullet-resistant vest on Saturday fired five shots at Allen, but none of those shots hit the suspect.

Blanche said Allen fell to the ground and was arrested. 

Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer who is now the acting U.S. Attorney general, starts this press conference by stressing that "law enforcement did not fail" on Saturday night. 

He says the suspect in this case, Cole Tomas Allen, was intercepted on a floor above the ballroom where the correspondents' dinner was taking place.

"Hundreds of federal agents stood between him and the President of the United States," Blanche says.

Hi there, I'm J.P. Tasker, a parliamentary reporter who's in Washington this week.

We're standing by to hear from acting U.S. Attorney general Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel.

They are holding a briefing that's due to start any minute now where they are expected to give new details about the White House Correspondents' Association dinner shooting incident.

You can watch it live in the video above. 

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.

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