Donald Trump was evacuated from the White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington, DC, due to a shooting incident. The suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, is in custody, and no major injuries were reported among attendees.
Key points
Donald Trump evacuated from the correspondents' dinner
Shooting incident occurred at the Washington Hilton hotel
Suspect Cole Tomas Allen is in custody
No major injuries reported among attendees
Dinner will be rescheduled in 30 days
Mentioned in this story
Donald TrumpMelania TrumpJD VanceCole Tomas AllenWhite HouseWashington, DCWashington Hilton hotel
Donald Trump has been rushed out of the White House correspondents’ dinner at a hotel in Washington, DC, after a gunman fired shots and tried to breach security.
The US President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and cabinet members were unharmed following the shooting at the Washington Hilton hotel.
A security service agent was hit – but protected by a bulletproof vest. Trump said he was in ‘great shape’.
The White House says the suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California, is in custody. Trump said he was heavily armed and appeared to be acting alone.
The White House correspondents’ dinner will be rescheduled in 30 days.
Here’s what to know about the shooting and the suspect.
What happened to Trump?
The president was hosting the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner at the Hilton Hotel on Saturday night.
The dinner is an annual tradition, where journalists who cover the White House celebrate the First Amendment and raise money for journalism scholarships, together with the president and other US leaders.
But the gala event was interrupted by the sudden sound of gunfire, and Secret Service agents rushed the president out.
A man armed with a shotgun had fired at a Secret Service agent, an FBI official told the Reuters news agency. The agent was hit, but in an area covered by protective gear and was unharmed, the official said.
Reporting from Washington DC, Al Jazeera’s Chris Sheridan said everyone was eating and socialising, and suddenly, shots were heard.
“I thought it sounded like it came from behind where we were sitting, but it was quite loud. It was an echo. Quite a loud boom of at least five shots, which resonated throughout the ballroom just outside where we were,” he said.
Al Jazeera’s Alan Fisher noted the very unusual night at the White House.
“We don’t often get the president stepping from an assassination attempt, which is what it appears like on the face of it now, into the briefing room to give the media an update, with everyone in their finest clothes,” he reported from Washington DC.
The Hilton hotel is no stranger to assassination attempts and has also been nicknamed the Reagan hotel – after John Hinckley Jr’s attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan there in 1981. That event is perhaps what the hotel is most famous for, and not the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Al Jazeera’s Fisher said that Trump seemed quite taken aback by the news.
“He himself initially had thought a tray had been dropped, or it was gunfire, and the Secret Service agent spirited him out of the hall along with the first lady and other members of the Cabinet,” he said.
He noted that Trump had made it clear that he wanted to continue the event, but the Secret Service wouldn’t allow it.
Q&A
What happened at the White House correspondents' dinner?
A gunman fired shots and attempted to breach security, prompting the evacuation of Donald Trump and other attendees.
Who is the suspect in the Washington shooting incident?
The suspect is 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California, who is now in custody.
Was Donald Trump injured during the shooting?
No, Donald Trump, along with other key attendees, was unharmed during the incident.
When will the White House correspondents' dinner be rescheduled?
The dinner will be rescheduled in 30 days following the shooting incident.
See every story in News — including breaking news and analysis.
Is Trump safe?
All US federal officials, including Trump, have been declared safe.
About an hour after Trump was rushed from the event, he posted on Truth Social that a “shooter had been apprehended.”
“Quite an evening in DC, Secret Service and Law Enforcement did a fantastic job,” Trump added.
Trump said he had been asked to leave the dinner and said it will be rescheduled.
“The First Lady, plus the Vice President, and all Cabinet members, are in perfect condition,” he said. “I have spoken with all the representatives in charge of the event, and we will be rescheduling within 30 days”.
Addressing reporters in the US shortly after, Trump lauded the bravery of the Secret Service agent who he said “was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job”.
“I just spoke to the officer, and he’s doing great. He’s in great shape. He is in very high spirits, and we told him we love him and respect him,” he said.
Who is the suspected gunman?
The New York Times and CBS News identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen.
Reporting from Washington DC, Al Jazeera’s Richard Gaisford said authorities have not released the name of the suspect in custody, but various news reports have identified him.
“It appears this was gleaned from the information he gave when he checked into the Washington Hilton before this event. He had a room at the hotel and is being named as Cole Tomas Allen from a place called Torrance in California. He is 31 years old,” he said.
“We saw that video of him rushing that police line, in effect to try and get into the ballroom, where, of course, Donald Trump was sat close to his wife, Melania, and other members of the cabinet and all of the members of the press who were gathered for the White House Correspondents Dinner there,” he added.
Gaisford noted that in some of the pictures, the gunman is almost half-naked because he’d been stripped by police to ensure he wasn’t carrying any form of explosive device.
Trump described him as a “sick” man.
“The man has been captured. They go into his apartment. I guess he lives in California, and he’s a sick person. A very sick person. And we don’t want things like this to happen,” the US president told US media.
He added that the events were traumatic for the first lady and that the response from the law enforcement agencies was “really incredible”.
“We’re going to reschedule. We’re gonna do it again. We’re not gonna let anybody take over our society. We’re not gonna cancel things out.”
Todd Blanche, acting attorney general, told US journalists that the investigation “is ongoing”.
“I expect you will see charges filed shortly. The charges should be self-evident, given the conduct, but as you’ll hear, there will be multiple charges surrounding the shooting, the possession of firearms, and anything else that we can get on this guy,” Blanche said.
How many Trump assassination attempts?
Trump has faced numerous assassination attempts and death threats throughout his years as president and candidate.
The closest call came in July 2024, at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman got onto a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to then-candidate Trump as he spoke on stage. A bystander was killed, and Trump’s ear was wounded in the attack. Agents shot dead the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Crooks, at the scene.
A few months later, in September, an armed man hid near Trump’s West Palm Beach golf course in Florida with the intent to kill him, according to officials. Prosecutors said Ryan Routh methodically plotted to kill Trump for weeks, before aiming a rifle through the shrubbery as he played golf. A Secret Service agent spotted Routh before he was able to open fire on Trump, and he was soon arrested nearby. Routh was found guilty last year of attempting to kill the president and was sentenced to life in prison in February.
Also, in February, a 21-year-old man, Austin Tucker Martin, was shot dead after entering Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with a shotgun, but the President was not there.
