US President Donald Trump says he \u201cwasn\u2019t worried\u201d while he was being evacuated from the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, after a gunman attempted to storm the ballroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,\u201d Trump said during an interview with CBS News programme 60 Minutes, one day after the shooting at a Washington DC hotel on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
US media named Cole Tomas Allen, 31, as the suspect, who was arrested after police said he opened fire near a security checkpoint during the event. He is due to appear in court on Monday.<\/p>\n
The FBI\u2019s criminal investigation and terrorism task-force are investigating the incident.<\/p>\n
US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the suspect was \u201clikely\u201d targeting senior White House officials in attendance based on \u201cpreliminary\u201d findings, adding that the alleged gunman\u2019s motive is still under investigation.<\/p>\n
Trump was joined at the event on Saturday by high-ranking members of his government, including Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of Health Robert F Kennedy Jr, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and top aide Stephen Miller.<\/p>\n
After being rushed off the stage to safety, Trump later told reporters at a briefing on Saturday: \u201cI can\u2019t imagine that there\u2019s any profession that\u2019s more dangerous\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Sunday, the White House said Trump \u201cstands fearless\u201d after surviving, alongside cabinet members, \u201can assassination attempt when shots were fired\u201d.<\/p>\n
The White House Correspondents\u2019 Association president, Weijia Jiang, called the attack \u201charrowing\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Jiang, who was sat next to Trump at the dinner, thanked the Secret Service for actions which \u201cprotected thousands of guests\u201d.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Trump told Fox News that the suspect \u201chad a lot of hatred in his heart for a while\u201d, and said his family knew he had \u201cdifficulties\u201d. He added that the suspect had a \u201cmanifesto\u201d, and suggested he was \u201cstrongly anti-Christian\u201d.<\/p>\n
US media are reporting a history of anti-Trump social media posts from 31-year-old Allen, citing law enforcement sources.<\/p>\n
At about 20:35 local time (00:35 GMT) on Saturday gunshots rang out in the foyer of the Washington Hilton hotel, where the White House Correspondents\u2019 dinner was taking place in the ballroom on a floor below.<\/p>\n
The president, First Lady Melania Trump and the vice-president were also rushed out of the room by security.<\/p>\n
Video of Secret Service agents rushing JD Vance from the event several moments before Trump was evacuated circulated across social media, with some viewers questioning the timing.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the news programme 60 Minutes on Sunday, Trump said he \u201cwasn\u2019t making it easy\u201d for agents to evacuate him from the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to see what was happening\u2026 I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realise, maybe it was a bad problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
At one point, Trump said security asked him to take cover and \u201cplease go down on the floor\u201d. He praised his detail as \u201cgreat people\u201d.<\/p>\n
Officials said law enforcement exchanged fire with the alleged attacker and intercepted him, and \u201cbelieve\u201d the suspect fired his weapon. He was not struck, but was taken to hospital for evaluation.<\/p>\n
Police said he was carrying two guns, as well as knives.<\/p>\n
The BBC\u2019s partner CBS News has seen a written document believed to be linked to the suspect, Cole Allen. Other US media have reported on the same document.<\/p>\n
It says the gunman wanted to target members of the Trump administration \u201cfrom highest-ranking to lowest\u201d and that while guests and hotel staff were not the intended targets, they would be attacked if necessary to get to the officials.<\/p>\n
His brother reportedly contacted police in Connecticut after receiving it. The police department in New London, Connecticut said it was contacted only hours after the shooting and immediately notified federal law enforcement.<\/p>\n
BBC News has not independently verified the alleged writings, which have been described as a manifesto and were reportedly sent to the suspect\u2019s family members before the attempted attack.<\/p>\n
During the 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, Trump grew frustrated with journalist Norah O\u2019Donnell after she asked about the reported contents of the alleged writings, which include a reference to a \u201cpedophile, rapist, and traitor\u201d without mentioning any individual by name. He called O\u2019Donnell a \u201cdisgrace\u201d for asking him about the excerpts, adding that \u201cyou should be ashamed of yourself reading that, because I\u2019m not any of those things\u201d.<\/p>\n
An officer who was shot and injured during the incident has been discharged from hospital. His bullet proof vest \u201chelped us avoid a potential tragedy,\u201d the Secret Service\u2019s chief of communications, Anthony Guglielmi, told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Several BBC reporters were in attendance at the dinner, and described scenes of widespread confusion following the sound of gunshots.<\/p>\n
Gary O\u2019Donoghue, the BBC\u2019s Chief North America correspondent, said he heard \u201cbooming sounds\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin moments, I thought \u2013 that is the low thudding sound that semi-automatic weapons make,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The room was briefly locked down, before an announcement was made that the event would be rescheduled and attendees were ushered out.<\/p>\n
Blanche told the BBC\u2019s US partner CBS News that investigators believe the suspect travelled to the capital by train \u2013 from Los Angeles to Chicago, before heading to DC.<\/p>\n
Allen describes himself as a mechanical engineer, game developer and teacher on LinkedIn. He is from Torrance, California, where an address believed to be linked to him is being searched.<\/p>\n
He will be formally charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer and using a firearm during a crime of violence, officials said.<\/p>\n
The president delivered a briefing from the White House after the attack. Speaking while wearing black tie attire to a room full of journalists also in formal wear, he praised the Secret Service, and said that everyone in the room owed them a \u201ctremendous debt of gratitude\u201d.<\/p>\n
Though he has levelled criticism at the media during his two terms as president, including in the 60 Minutes interview on Saturday, Trump also took a moment to thank the press for their \u201cresponsible coverage\u201d of the attack.<\/p>\n
He also called for people to \u201cresolve our differences peacefully\u201d.<\/p>\n
He has used the incident to further his argument for building a new ballroom at the White House, writing on Truth Social that it would not have happened \u201cwith the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction\u201d.<\/p>\n
It is the third time Trump has faced an assassination threat. A bullet grazed his ear in July 2024 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and in September 2024, a suspected gunman was spotted hiding in the bushes of his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.<\/p>\n
Trump was attending the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner for the first time as president. He last attended in 2011 as a private citizen.<\/p>\n
Following the incident, Barack Obama, who delivered an address as US president at the 2011 event that Trump attended, said \u201cit\u2019s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I\u2019m grateful to them \u2013 and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
World leaders have also condemned the incident.<\/p>\n
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was \u201cshocked\u201d by the attack, adding: \u201cAny attack on democratic institutions or on the freedom of the press must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark Carney, Canada\u2019s prime minister, said he is \u201crelieved\u201d that Trump and the first lady, along with those in attendance, were safe.<\/p>\n
His Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, also said he is \u201cpleased to hear\u201d that those at the scene were safe.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump says he \u201cwasn\u2019t worried\u201d while he was being evacuated from the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, after a gunman attempted to storm the ballroom. \u201cI wasn\u2019t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,\u201d Trump said during an interview with CBS News programme 60 Minutes, one day after the shooting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138999\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}