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PROTECTING THE US president has never been an easy task, but security fears have been heightened after the latest shooting incident involving US president Donald Trump and his administration.
Trump had been the subject of at least two previous assassination attempts in the past two years, and while he has previously criticised agents, he has expressed satisfaction with his bodyguards this time around.
The Secret Service did a “much better job than Butler,” according to Trump over the weekend, the Pennsylvania town where he was the target of an assassination attempt in 2024 during a campaign rally.
But Saturday night’s assailant got close enough to cause chaos at a glitzy gala for Washington media. The would-be shooter was tackled to the ground and a uniformed Secret Service officer was “struck in his vest”, Trump and local police said
That security agent was brought to hospital and did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
Wide shot of ballroom as loud bangs are heard and President Trump is evacuated from the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. #WHCD #WHCA #NerdProm pic.twitter.com/AUy79J9yQd
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 26, 2026
The suspect has been named as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old California native, who is due to appear in court later over his attempts to breach a security checkpoint at the dinner while armed with multiple weapons.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner took place in the Hilton hotel in Washington, DC, with the annual gathering seeing not just Trump, but also key members of his cabinet also turning out for the black-tie event.
Reporting by various US media places the gunman as already staying at the Hilton prior to the gala, possibly booking into his room on the 10th floor on Friday.
It’s believed he took a train from California to Chicago before continuing on to Washington, avoiding airport security that would have detected the weapons packed inside a black bag he was seen carrying: a shotgun, a handgun and several knives.
The gargantuan size of the hotel – with its 47 meeting rooms and some 1,100 guest rooms – also means that there was a wider space to cover.
The gunman may have been able to take some advantage of this, with news station CBS reporting that the suspect used an interior stairwell to bypass more public areas of hotel.
After leaving his 10th-floor room, CBS reported, surveillance footage shows him using an interior stairwell to run down the approximately 10 flights, bypassing heavily monitored public areas of the hotel.
The suspect then emerged onto the terrace level — the same level as the foyer leading to the event’s red carpet — just yards from a primary access point to the ballroom where the high-profile dinner was underway. There, he broke into a sprint.
Footage posted by Trump himself of other CCTV footage shows the man darting through the hotel while dressed in black.
President Trump posted this video, which appears to show someone filming security camera footage of a man rushing past authorities at the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Dinner takes place. pic.twitter.com/RIhYpxCpYx
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) April 26, 2026
However, Secret Service officers tackled the suspect moments after he emerged to launch his attack.
A photo circulated widely, including by Trump on his Truth Social platform, shows the gunman detained on the ground with no shirt. US media have reported this as being part of standard protocol whereby officers immediately remove a suspect’s clothing to ensure they are not carrying any additional weapons or explosive devices.
According to authorities, the suspect got close to the ballroom entrance before was he blocked by officers.
He never actually made it inside the room where the Trump administration and some of the country’s highest-profile reporters were.
Those officers were at a security checkpoint where agents were posted for the dinner and their success in stopping him from breaching the checkpoint is being credited in some US media as a sign that the protection efforts were a success.
So while some have raised questions about security measures at the dinner, the Secret Service contends its cordon succeeded and that the safest place in the hotel was where Trump and his cabinet were: the ballroom.
However, any security measures are also going to be complicated by the country’s loose laws on gun ownership.
Washington law on guns allows open carry, but private properties – such as hotels – can prohibit firearms on their premises.
The street outside the Washington Hilton was also the site of the 1981 assassination attempt on former president Ronald Reagan.
This is getting cited by Trump as a reason to push ahead with his plans to construct a huge ballroom next to the White House that has faced legal challenges.
“This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,” Trump wrote on social media.
“While beautiful, it has every highest level security feature there is.”
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