Strauss Media CEO Richard Strauss, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., Kerry Kennedy, daughter of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Boston Globe DC Bureau Chief Jackie Kucinich and DC Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss hide under tables after an incident at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner on April 25, 2026 in Washington, DC (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
The suspected shooter at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night in Washington, D.C., wrote a “manifesto” before his planned attack, President Donald Trump said in an interview Sunday morning on Fox News and later in the day on CBS’ “60 Minutes.”
Meanwhile, Trump and MAGA allies said online that security flaws exposed by the incident would prove the need for a up-to-date secure ballroom at the White House. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and Cabinet officials were safely evacuated from the Washington Hilton after shots were fired by a suspect who officers said was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives.
Multiple news reports Sunday identified the suspected shooter as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, and The Associated Press said He is a tutor and amateur video game developer. The White House has not released that information publicly and spokespeople did not respond to it Sunday.
Fox News host Jacqui Heinrich used the name in her interview with Trump, who did not apply it himself but did not correct Heinrich when she named Allen and called the manifesto “anti-Trump” and “anti-Christian.”
Trump said the document showed a “hatred” of Christianity.
“The guy is a sick guy,” he said. “If you read his manifesto, he hates Christians. One thing is for sure: he hates Christians.”
The New York Post published What the medium said was the full text of the manifesto, which aimed to align the attack with Christian teachings rather than mocking the religion itself. The document was also mentioned in the CBS interview, with host Norah O’Donnell saying it named members of the government as targets.
The document contains a number of objections to a planned attack and the author’s counterarguments.
“Objection 1: As a Christian you should turn the other cheek,” Allen wrote, according to the New York Post.
“Rebuttal: Turning the other cheek when you are oppressed,” he continued. “I am not the person being raped in a detention center. I am not the fisherman being executed without trial. I am not a blown up school child, a starving child, or a young girl being mistreated by the many criminals in this government. Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the crimes of the oppressor.”
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson called it Trump’s third assassination attempt in less than two years and wrote on social media that a Trump trademark was composed demeanor under pressure.
“I have spent a lot of time with him over the past few years and he is at his strongest in times of crisis and turmoil,” the Louisiana Republican wrote. “That is one of the main reasons why his term in office is so historic. Added to this is the fact that he has now survived a third assassination attempt.”
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said on news broadcasts Sunday that the shooter appeared to be targeting government officials, but did not say he was specifically Trump. The White House released a statement headlined: “President Trump remains fearless after third assassination attempt.”
Arraignment on Monday
Blanche also said he expects the suspect to be arraigned in federal court in D.C. on Monday. Jeanine Pirro, the District of Columbia’s top federal prosecutor, said Saturday evening that the man would be charged with using a firearm in a crime of violence and assaulting a federal officer with a risky weapon.
The suspect traveled by train from Los Angeles to Washington and transferred in Chicago, Blanche said in an interview Sunday morning on NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.” This type of travel would have allowed him to transport the weapons that officials said were found on him across the country without undergoing security screening, unlike on a flight.
Blanche said he doesn’t believe additional laws are needed to boost safety on trains.
The gunman had been staying at the Washington Hilton, the longtime site of the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, for days before the attack, Blanche said.
At the time of the interview, Allen was not cooperating with the investigation, Blanche said.
Asked whether there was a foreign connection to the planned attack, Blanche said many details of the gunman’s plans were still unknown.
“We are still looking for motivation and hopefully we will learn that in the next few days,” said Blanche. “Based on a very preliminary understanding of the incident, we believe he was targeting members of the government. We do not have further details.”
Blanche added that the police officer who was injured by a shot in his bulletproof vest Saturday night was doing well and had received a call from Trump.
“The president spoke to him last night,” Blanche said. “He was in good spirits. Apparently he didn’t want to go to the hospital, even though he was certainly injured.”
The ballroom served as a security measure
Trump, a number of right-wing influencers and at least one Democratic congressman called for the construction of a up-to-date ballroom for the White House in response to the incident.
“What happened last night is exactly why our great military, our Secret Service, our law enforcement, and for various reasons, every President for 150 years, DEMAND the construction of a grand, safe and secure ballroom ON THE WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS,” Trump wrote on his social media page Truth Social on Sunday morning.
“This event would never have happened with the top-secret military ballroom in the White House currently under construction,” he continued. “It can’t be built fast enough! Although it’s beautiful, it has all the highest level security features available, plus there are no rooms upstairs for unsecured people to spill into, and it’s within the gates of the most secure building in the world.”
The first announcement from the White House The ballroom’s boss in July stressed the need for space for enormous events and made only passing mention of security updates, saying the Secret Service would provide them.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who is among the senators most likely to cross party lines, posted on social media Sunday that a up-to-date ballroom is needed and urged his opponents to give up their “TDS,” or “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a name that describes people who oppose everything Trump does.
“This venue was not built for an event with the U.S. government’s successor plan,” Fetterman wrote. “After your testimony last night, drop the TDS and build the White House Ballroom for just such events.”
Republican U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy of Montana said he would propose a bill to speed up construction of the White House Ballroom.
“This week I will introduce and receive unanimous consent a bill that would provide express authorization for the construction of a presidential ballroom,” he wrote
And Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican who is a leader among far-right members of the caucus, said building a ballroom should be included in an upcoming funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
“Any review of DHS reconciliation instructions this week and beyond should include, among other concerns, the construction of a secure ballroom on White House grounds,” he wrote.
