Suspected gunman likely targeting Trump administration officials at White House press dinner, acting attorney general says – live | White House correspondents’ dinner 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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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.

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”.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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”.