Washington Correspondents Dinner Shooting

[Todd Feinman]

Shots have apparently been fired at the Correspondents' Dinner, and Trump has been rushed off stage:
https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/25/politics/trump-rushed-white-house-correspondents-dinner

 

[boringrealit]

No matter if it was real or staged, the reactions online are interesting. No one seems to believe it. Interesting times we're living in.

 

[Mendel]

First WHCA dinner Trump attended, ever as a president. [Thanks, @Ann K !]

https://www.axios.com/2026/04/26/trump-evacuated-whcd-secret-service

A suspect fired at Secret Service personnel at the event at the Washington Hilton hotel and is now in custody, a law enforcement source tells Axios.

"Shot was fired at Secret Service, but they are OK. Hit in protective equipment," the official said.
A federal law enforcement source identified the shooter as Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California.
Trump was not in immediate danger of being shot because the gunman was apprehended in the hotel lobby before he got to the magnetometers, a second source briefed by the FBI on the incident said.

 

[Mendel]

Oh, and btw:

Article:

Just over two months after the Butler shooting, Secret Service agents spotted a man wielding a gun and hiding in bushes at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was on the course. It was deemed an assassination attempt and the suspect was sentenced to life in prison in February.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-removed-white-house-correspondents-dinner-attendees-take-cover-2026-04-26/

 

[boringrealit]

What on earth is going on?

 

[Ann K]

What on earth is going on?

They're just echoing Trump's statements, as he started in talking about the "need" for a secure ballroom right away after the shooting. Questions have been asked already, such as "Does he mean that the correspondent's dinner will be held at the ballroom every year?".

 

[Ann K]

First WHCA dinner Trump attended, ever.

No, it's the first one he attended as president. He had pointed jokes thrown at him when he attended in 2011, by Barack Obama, at a time when Trump was seeking publicity by demanding to see Obama's birth certificate to prove that he was American. The humorless Trump did not take it well, and I think that was the last time he attended until now.

Despite not yet attending as president, Donald Trump had his own memorable moment at the dinner. In 2011, he was a prominent figure in the "birther" movement against then-President Barack Obama, using social media and frequent Fox News Channel appearances to push the false narrative that the first Black president was born in Kenya and was not a natural-born US citizen.

However, at the Washington Hilton, Obama held the lectern – and he used it with Trump sitting directly in front of him. "Tonight, for the first time, I am releasing my official birth video," Obama deadpanned, before showing the opening scene of Disney's The Lion King, depicting the royal cub Simba being presented on the savanna.

Obama then turned his fire directly on the reality television star. "No one is happier, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald," Obama said. "And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter. For example, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?"

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...nner-s-most-controversial-moments/ar-AA21DaGy

 

[NoParty]

View attachment 89856

What on earth is going on?

Hopefully President 48 will tear down the Epstein Ballroom on 1/20/29 (if that monstronsity actually gets built).

You gotta love how all these charlatans are on the same page about how vital a WH ballroom (suddenly) is because of security...
a concept that not one of them ever entertained until a few hours ago.

Of course, after this administration we'd be stuck with the Epstein Ballroom, despite probably returning to the default
American reality of Americans rarely trying to kill their presidents.

 

[Ann K]

What on earth is going on?

More on this topic, from Ben Meiselas / Meidas Touch:

Here is the critical detail that is getting lost in all the noise: the incident happened on a floor above where the dinner was actually taking place. Not in the room. Not near the room. Up a flight of stairs, past multiple security layers, in a part of the hotel that was open to the general public because the Secret Service only secured the specific areas of the WHCA event — not the entire building. Law enforcement officials confirmed this. The suspect never breached the secured zone. The president, vice president, cabinet officials, and guests were nowhere close to this.

That is not a minor footnote. That is a major part of this story.

And yet, within thirty minutes of the incident, Donald Trump was at a podium holding a press conference, not to reassure the public, not to thank law enforcement, but to demand his golden ballroom. He and his officials were all smiles. Karoline Leavitt had a grin on her face. Pete Hegseth was photographed beaming. Alina Habba posted on Instagram that she "slayed on the look" with a photo of herself from the event, captioned "10/10." These are the people who want you to believe this was a harrowing, historic moment of danger.
........
What happened next was one of the more transparent influence operations we've seen from this reigme, and they do this constantly. Within hours of the incident, dozens, probably closer to a hundred, MAGA influencers and regime-adjacent accounts were all posting virtually the same message. Libs of TikTok: "This is why we need Trump's ballroom." Jack Posobiec: "Thank God President Trump is building a ballroom." Wall Street Mav: "We need the White House ballroom."

This is not organic. This appears to be a coordinated message campaign.

 

[Mendel]

from Ben Meiselas

These are the people who want you to believe this was a harrowing, historic moment of danger.

One guy didn't look harrowed....


Source: https://imgur.com/a/AVodLA5

I don't think it was staged, and I think this is just Trump being Trump and seizing a PR opportunity.

The ballroom has been a big anti-Trump talking point, so MAGA has its 'own the libs' moment here, regardless of whether the WHCA would ever want to hold their annual dinner in the White House (remember that some journalists are no longer allowed in).

And of course schools all over the country have classrooms and not ballrooms. (10 School shootings with injuries or deaths in 2026 so far in the US, per https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-shootings-this-year-how-many-and-where/2026/01 )

 

[jdog]

View attachment 89856

What on earth is going on?

And it's not like someone shot through the too-vulnerable windows of the Washington Hilton to get at the president. It would just be trading one Secret Service-secured location for another.

What's the difference between stopping this guy at the edge of the security perimeter at one ballroom over another?

 

[boringrealit]

More on this topic, from Ben Meiselas / Meidas Touch:

Here is the critical detail that is getting lost in all the noise: the incident happened on a floor above where the dinner was actually taking place. Not in the room. Not near the room. Up a flight of stairs, past multiple security layers, in a part of the hotel that was open to the general public because the Secret Service only secured the specific areas of the WHCA event — not the entire building. Law enforcement officials confirmed this. The suspect never breached the secured zone. The president, vice president, cabinet officials, and guests were nowhere close to this.

That is not a minor footnote. That is a major part of this story.

And yet, within thirty minutes of the incident, Donald Trump was at a podium holding a press conference, not to reassure the public, not to thank law enforcement, but to demand his golden ballroom. He and his officials were all smiles. Karoline Leavitt had a grin on her face. Pete Hegseth was photographed beaming. Alina Habba posted on Instagram that she "slayed on the look" with a photo of herself from the event, captioned "10/10." These are the people who want you to believe this was a harrowing, historic moment of danger.
........
What happened next was one of the more transparent influence operations we've seen from this reigme, and they do this constantly. Within hours of the incident, dozens, probably closer to a hundred, MAGA influencers and regime-adjacent accounts were all posting virtually the same message. Libs of TikTok: "This is why we need Trump's ballroom." Jack Posobiec: "Thank God President Trump is building a ballroom." Wall Street Mav: "We need the White House ballroom."

This is not organic. This appears to be a coordinated message campaign.

I assume there is more to this ballroom than just his love for dancing. Maybe his owners have some plans for some underground complex for spionage or something.

I mean, it could be just his personal fixations or NPD, as with the Peace Prize, Greenland and Venezuela, but I doubt it.

 

[Ann K]

I assume there is more to this ballroom than just his love for dancing. Maybe his owners have some plans for some underground complex for spionage or something.

It's my understanding that the White House has (or had?) a secure bunker in case of attacks ...under the place he wants to put the ballroom.

 

[jdog]

View attachment 89869
I assume there is more to this ballroom than just his love for dancing. Maybe his owners have some plans for some underground complex for spionage or something.

I mean, it could be just his personal fixations or NPD, as with the Peace Prize, Greenland and Venezuela, but I doubt it.

Suspicion about why it needs to be bigger than other ballrooms...

 

[Ann K]

One guy didn't look harrowed....

To be fair, he has shown signs before of being somewhat hearing-impaired, so perhaps that played a part in his indifference.

 

[Alexandria Nick]

That was my first and only thought: old guy didn't hear something on account of being an old guy

 

[Mendel]

To be fair, he has shown signs before of being somewhat hearing-impaired, so perhaps that played a part in his indifference.

The German phrase "hat den Schuss nicht gehört" (s/he hasn't heard the gunshot) describes someone who has no idea what's going on

 

[Harabeck]

That was my first and only thought: old guy didn't hear something on account of being an old guy

Those around Trump don't immediately react either. It seems like they were eventually alerted not by the initial gunshots, but by the reactions of those on the other side of the room. (Who were presumably closer to the shots?)



I had some music going while rewatching this vid, and though I could hear crowd sounds, I missed the gunshots entirely.

 

[Minus0]

Those around Trump don't immediately react either. It seems like they were eventually alerted not by the initial gunshots, but by the reactions of those on the other side of the room. (Who were presumably closer to the shots?)

It's worth noting the camera and microphone are nearer to the gunshots. The noise interference of a full hall talking with cutlery clattering would have significantly decreased the gunshot audio signatures on the stage.

Also, a few seconds after the shots classical music starts up, which presumably had been going before. In such a setting, I would probably interpret the sounds as drum beats in the music.

 

[jdog]

It's also become obvious from the charging documents -- though in passive cop-friendly language -- that the suspect never fired the shotgun or handgun he was carrying and that the shots heard were from one Secret Service agent opening fire. And hitting another Secret Service agent.

 

[Sebastian]

The German phrase "hat den Schuss nicht gehört" (s/he hasn't heard the gunshot) describes someone who has no idea what's going on

Stimmt

 

[jdog]

It's also become obvious from the charging documents -- though in passive cop-friendly language -- that the suspect never fired the shotgun or handgun he was carrying and that the shots heard were from one Secret Service agent opening fire. And hitting another Secret Service agent.

From today's Washington Post:

Surveillance footage reviewed by The Washington Post shows that Cole Tomas Allen appeared to raise his shotgun in the direction of a Secret Service officer who then fired at him at least four times as he bolted through a security checkpoint outside Saturday's White House correspondents' dinner.
...
The footage shows the officer drew his weapon within two seconds of Allen's arrival. The officer fired multiple times at Allen — and in the general direction of other security personnel as Allen ran past them.
There is no indication in the footage reviewed by The Post that Allen fired his weapon, though authorities have charged him with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The footage shows no obvious flash from the muzzle of the shotgun before the suspect runs out of the frame.
...
Acting attorney general Todd Blanche said Monday that a used shell was found inside the shotgun and that investigators were confident he had fired. Explaining his hesitancy to definitively address the source of the round that is said to have struck the Secret Service officer, Blanche added: "We want to get that right. We're still looking at that."
...

An MS NOW reporter visiting the site after the shooting posted a video on social media showing holes in the wall near where Allen had fallen. The holes appear to match the general trajectory of the last shot the officer fired before stepping out of sight in the surveillance video.
The holes are more consistent with handgun rounds than impacts from a shotgun, said Rick Vasquez, a firearms consultant and former chief of the firearms technology branch at the agency then named the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who reviewed the public security surveillance video and other imagery.