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Suspected gunman likely targeting Trump administration officials at White House press dinner, acting attorney general says – live | White House correspondents’ dinner shooting
‘Preliminary findings’ suggest suspect was ‘likely’ targeting Trump administration officials, says acting US attorney general
The acting US attorney general, Todd Blanche, has said that “preliminary findings” suggest that the alleged White House correspondents’ dinner shooter was targeting Donald Trump and officials in his administration.
Blanche told NBC News’ Meet the Press:
We’re still investigating a motive, and that’s something that will necessarily take a couple of days at least. We believe he was targeting administration officials in this attack, attempted attack, but that’s again, quite preliminary.
Those officials “likely” include the US president, Blanche added, “but I want to wait and not get ahead of us on that.”
Blanche went on to say that he does not believe that the suspect is cooperating with the investigation.
He will be charged in federal court tomorrow with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, Blanche said, adding he did not know if there was an Iran connection to the attack.
Investigators believe the suspect travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then Chicago to Washington DC by train, before checking into the hotel where the dinner was held, Blanche added.
He said investigators were looking into reports that the suspect had assembled the weapon somewhere in the hotel, but that he “didn’t get very far”.
He barely broke the perimeter. And by barely, I mean by a few feet.
Key events
Trump speaks to 60 Minutes about shooting
Donald Trump will make an appearance on the CBS News program 60 Minutes, according to Steven Cheung, the White House communications director.
“President Trump sits down with 60 Minutes to discuss what happened at the White House Correspondents Association dinner last night,” Cheung wrote in a post on X, accompanied by an image of the president being interviewed.
Ben Smee
Leaders from around the world have condemned the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night as an act of “political violence” and expressed relief that Donald Trump, officials and journalists were unharmed.
The president and his wife, Melania, as well as members of the US cabinet, were evacuated from the ballroom at the Washington Hilton on Saturday after gunshots were heard from the hotel lobby.
Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, sent a message of solidarity to Trump after the incident, according to his chief secretary, Darren Jones. “These are remarkable scenes. The prime minister has, this morning, sent a message to the president of the United States in solidarity for the events that took place,” Jones told Sky News.
Buckingham Palace said King Charles was “greatly relieved” the Trumps and other guests were unharmed.
Read more:
King Charles’s US state visit to go ahead as planned, Buckingham Palace confirms
Buckingham Palace has confirmed that King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day state visit to the US will go ahead as planned.
Earlier, the palace said a “number of discussions” were taking place to discuss how last night’s shooting may or may not affect security planning, with the British monarch due to arrive in the US tomorrow.
“Following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of government, we can confirm the state visit by their majesties will proceed as planned,” a palace spokesperson said.
“The king and queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway tomorrow.”
The suspected shooter is being held at a Metropolitan police department station in north-west Washington DC, law enforcement sources have told CBS News. He will be transported later today to a detention facility in the southeast of the capital.
The alleged gunman will be transported by the US Marshals Service to federal court on Monday, where he is expected to be arraigned before a federal judge, the justice department has said.
‘We are proud of everyone in that room,’ White House Correspondents’ Association says
Here is a statement from Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, who was seated next to Donald Trump at the dinner last night for what should have been a celebration of journalism.
Last night’s shooting at the Washington Hilton was a harrowing moment for everyone in attendance.
We express our deepest gratitude to the U.S. Secret Service and all law enforcement personnel who ensured the safety of everyone in the ballroom and beyond. Their actions protected thousands of guests, and we wish a full and speedy recovery to the officer who was injured in the line of duty. We are grateful everyone in attendance was unharmed, including the President, the First Lady, and the Vice President.
Our dinner exists to celebrate the First Amendment and the hard daily work of the journalists who defend it. Last night, those journalists showed exactly the kind of calm and courage that work demands, jumping into reporting immediately after the incident unfolded. We are proud of everyone in that room.
The WHCA board will be meeting to assess what happened and determine how to proceed. We will provide updates as soon as any are available.
In his alleged manifesto, Cole Allen, the man accused of targeting the White House correspondents’ dinner, called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and created a list of targets for the shooting, formatted from highest to lowest priority, with Trump administration officials at the top, according to a report from the New York Post.
The manifesto, obtained by the Post, begins with apologies to those who knew the suspect and lists his motives for the shooting. It said the shooter targeted administration officials with the exception of FBI director Kash Patel.
“I am a citizen of the United States of America,” it said. “What my representatives do reflects on me. And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
“Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” it later says.
The writer also describes security at the event as being weak. “Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance… The security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before,” it reads.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described last night’s correspondents’ dinner as having been “hijacked by a depraved crazy person who sought to assassinate the President and kill as many top Trump administration officials as possible”.
“I was with President Trump and the First Lady back stage after we were quickly ushered to safety by Secret Service,” she wrote in an X post. “President Trump was truly fearless, but as he said last night, this political violence needs to end.”
“Thank you to law enforcement for keeping all of us safe, including the brave agent who took a bullet to the chest and immediately moved to neutralize the shooter,” she added.
Trump also said that he had wanted to continue with the White House correspondents’ dinner following the shooting but acknowledged that it was the “right thing” to postpone it and leave.
“I really wanted to do it that night, even if we stayed late into the night, but we did the right thing, and we came back to the White House, we did a news conference and explained what happened,” Trump said in his Sunday interview with Fox News.
“I really wanted to, but the protocol was no and, you know, once those doors were open, that room was sealed,” he added.
The president went on to say, “we can’t let these criminals and these really bad people change the course of events in our country” and added that he had planned to “really rip it last night”.
“But I didn’t get a chance to do that. Probably, I was better off if I didn’t,” he said.
King’s visit to Washington to continue as planned, Trump says
Trump also confirmed to Fox News that King Charles III’s visit to the US will continue as planned.
“He’s a great guy, and we look forward to it. He’s really a fantastic person and a tremendous representative, and he’s brave,” Trump said. “We’re gonna have a great time. And he represents his nation like nobody else can do it.”
Donald Trump said in an interview on Sunday on Fox News that the suspected shooter at the White House correspondents’ dinner was stopped by law enforcement and didn’t come close to entering the ballroom where the event was taking place.
He described the suspect as “a sick and very troubled guy”. He added that the suspect appeared to have had “hatred in his heart for a while” and described him as being “strongly anti-Christian”.
He also said the suspect’s family had raised concerns about him to police ahead of his targeting of the media gala.
“He’s got some big problems with the rest of his life,” Trump said.
The president also reiterated once again on the need for a secure ballroom at the White House, which he says is under construction ahead of schedule and on budget.
FBI director Kash Patel said “the best of American leadership” was on show last night and reiterated that the investigation is ongoing.
“Last night we saw the best of American leadership,” he wrote in a post on X. “I am proud to work for President Trump who so strongly backs law enforcement across this country – and proud to lead this agency that works 24/7 to keep Americans safe.”
“Thank you to our brave law enforcement and interagency partners who acted quickly and protected their fellow Americans. Investigation ongoing,” he added.
Suspect’s writings in hotel room reveal he wanted to target Trump officials – report
The suspect’s writings, reportedly found inside his hotel room, are being examined as part of the investigation into the attack, according to CBS News.
Sources told the network that the writings “clearly stated” he wanted to target administration officials.
Prime minister Keir Starmer spoke to Donald Trump on Sunday and expressed relief that the US president and the first lady were safe following the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner, a Downing Street spokesperson told Reuters.
“He [Starmer] extended his best wishes to the President and First Lady following the shocking scenes at last night’s White House Correspondents Dinner,” the spokesperson said.
They added that Starmer had “expressed his relief that the President and First Lady were safe and wished a speedy recovery to the officer injured”.
Today so far
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Preliminary findings suggest that the alleged White House correspondents’ dinner shooter was targeting Donald Trump and officials in his administration, according to acting US attorney general Todd Blanche. The suspect’s motive remains under investigation.
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The suspect – identified by the Associated Press as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California – is set to be arraigned in federal court tomorrow. He faces charges of assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, but Blanche said depending on how the investigation goes, he can also be charged with the attempted assassination of Trump.
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The officer who sustained injuries in last night’s attack had been released from hospital, according to US Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi. “The ballistic vest helped us avoid a potential tragedy last night,” Guglielmi said.
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Trump on Sunday reiterated that the shooting is why the White House needs a ballroom. A US judge last month halted construction on Trump’s $400m ballroom, granting a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
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Security for King Charles is under review ahead of his state visit to Washington, the Buckingham Palace has said. Buckingham Palace said on Sunday that Charles was being “kept fully informed of developments” of last night’s shooting and was “greatly relieved to hear that the president, first lady and all guests have been unharmed”.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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