An FBI tactical team prepares to enter a house associated with the suspected White House Correspondents' Dinner shooter in Torrance, California, on US local time April 25, 2026. Photo: VCG

Attending the White House Correspondents' Dinner for the first time in years, US President Donald Trump joined the press corps on Saturday evening. However, the event was abruptly cut short before the first course could be cleared when gunshots rang out.

The dinner quickly descended into panic when a man carrying multiple weapons charged past a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton and exchanged fire with law enforcement officials.

Being evacuated 

Trump was rushed to safety after gunshots rang out at the venue, the BBC reported. "Out of the way, sir!" someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a "God Bless America" chant began as the president was escorted offstage. He fell briefly - apparently tripped - and was helped up by Secret Service agents, according to PBS News.

The Associated Press said Vice President JD Vance was removed from the room first, before Trump and first lady Melania Trump. 

This made some US netizens unease. 

"When shots were fired at the Correspondents Dinner, why did the secret service go to and escorted Vance out before Trump?" X user @SolidAirJohn wrote. 

"Why was JD Vance escorted out before Donald Trump during the White House Correspondents' Dinner incident? In high-risk situations, United States Secret Service protocols prioritize continuity of government meaning officials next in line or holding critical roles may be moved first to secure leadership stability," The verified X account The War Journal wrote in a post on Saturday. "Still, the sequence is drawing attention."

Trump posted on Truth Social later that a shooter has been apprehended at the correspondents' dinner.

"Quite an evening in DC Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job. 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," he wrote in a post.

Later he also shared two separate posts on Truth Social with photos of the suspected shooter with his wrists bound behind his back, shirtless and laying facedown on the ground.

In another post, the president shared a video of what appears to be security footage from a computer monitor. The footage showed US Secret Service officers standing near a magnetometer, and then an individual can be seen bolting through the areas as officers draw and point their handguns toward where the individual ran, according to The Hill. 

Suspect identified 

A photo posted by US President Donald Trump on social media shows law enforcement forces detaining a suspect following a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on the night of April 25, 2026. Photo: VCG

Citing two sources familiar with the matter, CNN said that Cole Tomas Allen, 31, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Torrance, has been identified by law enforcement as the armed man subdued near the dinner, and that he worked as a teacher and video game developer from Southern California, according to public records.

Investigators have determined that the suspect took a train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then from Chicago to Washington, where he checked into the Washington Hilton a day or two before the hotel hosted the White House Correspondents' Association dinner, acting US attorney general Todd Blanche told "Meet the Press," the New York Times reported. 

US authorities have not identified a motive or target in the shooting at the event, per The Washington Post.

In October 2024, Allen donated $25 to ActBlue, a political action committee that raises funds for Democrats, according to the Federal Election Commission. The money was earmarked for Kamala Harris' presidential campaign, the Los Angeles Times reported.

After the incident, Trump, safe and uninjured and still in his tuxedo, said at the White House two hours later that "They seem to think he [the shooter] was a lone wolf."

Trump also said he did not think the incident was tied to the war in Iran based on information so far, but he added that his actions toward Tehran could have made him a target and that he would not be deterred, per Reuters.

There were also Chinese reporters at the event and their description of the security details suggest that it was not sufficient. 

With nearly 300 tables and 10 guests per table, there were approximately 3,000 attendees at the gala. In addition to members of the Trump cabinet, the guest list included a wide array of high-profile dignitaries, according to Phoenix Television reporter Wang Bingru who was at the event. 

China's KNews reported that a reporter gained entry using a "ticket" that was merely an ordinary piece of paper lacking QR codes or verifiable data. After a cursory glance from staff and a rudimentary bag check without a pat-down, the reporter was admitted, leading to the conclusion that - compared to the rigorous protocols of the White House - security at the dinner was loose.

World leaders reacted with messages of concern for the US President.

Traditional allies across the Atlantic Ocean showed support to the US leader and condemned the violent attack. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on Sunday in his X post that he was "shocked by the scenes at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington overnight," and he found it "a huge relief that @POTUS, the First Lady and all those attending are safe." 

"The armed attack targeting the President of the United States last night is unacceptable. Violence has no place in a democracy. I extend my full support to Donald Trump," French President Macron wrote on Sunday afternoon on X.

Despite differences with the US over Iran and often considered a rebel in the NATO, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned in his X post on Sunday the attack against Trump while noting "Violence is never the way. Humanity will only advance through democracy, coexistence, and peace." Sanchez left the message in Spanish. 

While Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi declared in both English and Japanese that "violence must never be tolerated," Japanese netizens quickly pointed out her hypocrisy, highlighting her advocacy for lethal weapons exports and her conspicuous silence last month after a Japanese Self-Defense Force member breached the Chinese embassy in Japan.

Media speculation

While the full details of the incident have yet to unfold, this unexpected and high-profile event has already triggered waves of speculation across the US media.

The security incident that saw Trump rushed from the stage happened at the same hotel where more than 40 years ago, another sitting president almost lost his life, CNN reported.

Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr in an attempted assassination while leaving the Washington Hilton on March 30, 1981. He was seriously injured by a gunshot wound that punctured a lung and caused serious internal bleeding.

Fox News details listed the "striking similarities of the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner and the assassination attempt on President Trump's life in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024.

'There were officers every couple of feet with their rifles pointed out towards the crowd. That is not something that happens unless there is an extreme threat to the life of the president.' 'It is very, very similar to what we saw in Butler, Pennsylvania.'"

The suspect told law enforcement following his arrest that he wanted to shoot Trump administration officials, two sources told CBS News. The suspect didn't specifically say he was targeting Trump, just "administration officials," a law enforcement source said to CBS.

The root cause of such extreme cases lies in the radicalization of internal political divisions and antagonism within the US, when conventional political mechanisms fail to resolve disagreements, and as social fragmentation is currently plaguing the American landscape, said Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University.

"It's a dangerous profession," Trump joked at the press conference. "Nobody told me this was such a dangerous thing. If Marco would have told me, maybe I wouldn't have run. I'll take a pass." Still, he added: "It's a dangerous profession but I don't view it that way. I'm here to do a job."

Newsweek pointed out that the hard lesson of this shooting "is that America has built a political culture in which isolated people can convert grievance into performance almost instantly, or righteous mobs fueled by ideological hatred feel morally compelled to use violence as a political tool… every attacker operates in a world where threats, doxing, fantasies of violence as cleansing, and public notoriety are already in circulation."