US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the man accused of trying to attack senior administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was a “pretty sick guy,” after investigators said the suspect carried multiple weapons and had written a manifesto targeting Trump officials.
Officials identified the suspect as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California. Some reports also referred to him as Cole Thomas Allen.
Trump said in television interviews that Allen had been flagged to law enforcement by family members before the attack. Speaking on CBS’s '60 Minutes', Trump described the suspect as someone who had undergone a major religious and political shift.
“He was a Christian, believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lot of change,” Trump said. “He was probably a pretty sick guy.”
Manifesto targeted Trump officials
A law enforcement official told Reuters that Allen had written a manifesto in which he called himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin.”
According to the official, the manifesto said Allen planned to attack Trump administration officials in order of rank, from highest-ranking to lowest-ranking. FBI Director Kash Patel was reportedly excluded from the target list.
The manifesto also cited Christian theology and claimed the suspect was acting to protect people harmed by the administration’s policies.
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“Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” the manifesto reportedly read.
Security at Washington Hilton questioned
The manifesto was reportedly sent to members of Allen’s family shortly before the attack.
It also mocked what it called the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was being held.
The author reportedly wrote that he entered the hotel with multiple weapons and believed no one considered him a threat. Allen was arrested at the scene.
Officials said the suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint inside the Washington Hilton before being tackled and arrested.
Trump said the agent avoided serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest.
Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet officials were rushed out as the incident unfolded. Many senior US officials were gathered in the hotel’s ballroom at the time, raising new concerns about the security of top government leaders.
Trump promotes White House ballroom
Trump used the incident to promote his planned White House ballroom, calling it a safer venue for high-profile official gatherings.
“This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In a later CBS interview with anchor Norah O’Donnell, Trump again said the Washington Hilton ballroom was unsafe.
“That ballroom is not safe. I am building a safe ballroom,” he said, adding that the new White House ballroom would include bulletproof glass, top-tier security equipment and a strong single entrance.
Trump said the ballroom was expected to open in 2028.
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Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on multiple Sunday talk shows that Allen traveled by Amtrak from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington. Blanche said Allen checked into the Washington Hilton on Friday and that Trump and senior administration officials were likely targets.
Train passengers in the United States are not required to pass through airport-style metal detectors. Amtrak said it is cooperating with the investigation.
Federal charges
Blanche said Allen would be charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer. He said he did not know whether there was any Iran connection to the attack.
Blanche added that further federal indictments would follow.
Trump appeared on a high-profile CBS talk program the day after the shooting and blamed Democrats and the mainstream media for the political climate surrounding the attack.
The interview, hosted by CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell and aired on the 26th, lasted about 20 minutes.
The sharpest exchange came when O’Donnell read part of the suspect’s alleged statement. The statement reportedly included language naming Trump administration officials as targets and also contained the phrase “pedophile, rapist, traitor,” interpreted as being aimed at Trump.
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Trump reacted angrily.
“I knew you would read that. Terrible people,” he said. He denied the accusations, saying, “I am not a rapist. I raped nobody. I am not a pedophile,” before calling O’Donnell “a disgrateful person.”
Trump blames Democrats, media rhetoric
Trump said threats against him were linked to his political role and influence. Asked why people target him, he said, “People go after an influential president, a president who does things.”
He compared the danger faced by presidents to past assassinations, mentioning Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley, and placed the incident within a broader history of political violence.
“It’s always been there 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years ago,” Trump said. He then added, “I truly believe Democrats’ hate speech is far more dangerous.”
Authorities have not yet publicly established the suspect’s exact motive or any wider network.
Trump says he remained calm during shooting
When asked about his actions during the attack, Trump emphasized composure.
“I did not worry. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” he said when asked whether he feared people had been injured.
He also joked about video showing the suspect running toward the security checkpoint, saying, “He ran about 45 yards,” and adding that the suspect was fast enough that the NFL “should sign him.”
Trump, who had boycotted the media gala in past years, said the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner should be held again within 30 days. “It’s really bad to let a crazy person cancel an event like this,” he said.
White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang of CBS said the group’s board would decide its next steps.
Trump also said that his view of media coverage had shifted. A day earlier, he said media coverage had been “very responsible,” but during the CBS interview he sharply criticized the press, saying, “The media and the Democrats are almost the same as one.”
A White House official said law enforcement officials interviewed Allen’s sister and were told he had a tendency to make radical statements. She reportedly said he had attended an anti-Trump “No Kings” protest and had referred to a plan to do “something” to fix problems in the world.
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Trump suggested the protest may have influenced the suspect.
“Part of the reason you have people like that is you have people doing No Kings,” Trump told CBS. “I’m not a king.”
The No Kings protests are an anti-Trump campaign that began last year under the slogan “There are no kings in America,” organized by critics who say Trump’s governing style is monarchical.
Weapons and suspect’s background
Washington Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives. A White House official said Allen had purchased two handguns and a shotgun and stored them at his parents’ home.
Little was immediately known about his background. Social media posts indicated he had worked at C2 Education, a national private test preparation and tutoring company.
C2 Education said it was cooperating with law enforcement investigators.
Allen lived with his parents in a two-storey home on a tree-lined street with picket fences and craftsman-style houses in the historic district of Torrance, a seaside city in the South Bay area of greater Los Angeles.
Neighbours in the middle-class neighborhood said Sunday they were only casually acquainted with Allen and his parents. Most said they had never spoken to him beyond a brief greeting or waving while handing out Halloween candy to children.
Saturday’s incident added to growing concern about political violence in the United States.
Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a rally last September. Months earlier, in June 2025, Democratic Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed, while a Minnesota state senator was wounded.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted after Kirk’s killing found that Americans increasingly believe harsh political rhetoric is encouraging violence in the country.
World leaders condemn attack
Leaders around the world condemned the attack and expressed relief that Trump and others at the event were safe.
A planned visit to the United States by Britain’s King Charles, scheduled to begin Monday, will proceed, Trump and British officials said.
Trump also addressed conspiracy theories about the attack, comparing them to denial of major historical events including the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, World War II and the Holocaust.
He described conspiracy theorists as “not so much grifters as sick people.”
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