Cole Tomas Allen Opens Fire at White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Targets Trump Officials

A gunman identified by multiple outlets as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, opened fire during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., and was subdued by law enforcement after he was stopped before reaching the ballroom where President Donald Trump and top administration officials were present.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters that investigators believed the suspect was targeting “members of the administration,” and the Guardian reported Blanche said, “We do believe, based upon just a very preliminary start to understanding what happened, that he was targeting members of the administration.”

Al Jazeera

Trump said the alleged shooter wrote a “manifesto” ahead of the planned attack, and News From The States reported Trump discussed it in a Sunday morning interview on Fox News and later on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

The shooting triggered evacuations from the Washington Hilton, and News From The States said Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Cabinet officials were safely evacuated after shots were fired by a suspect described by officials as armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives.

The Guardian reported that investigators were assessing a manifesto “published in full by the New York Post,” and that an official familiar with the matter told the Guardian the manifesto published by the Post was authentic.

Multiple reports described the suspect firing a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested, and Trump said the agent escaped serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest.

The Times of India described the incident as taking place outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, where the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner was underway, and said security personnel quickly subdued the suspect, preventing him from entering the ballroom.

The suspect was expected to be formally charged in federal court on Monday, with the Guardian reporting he was set to be arraigned in federal court on Monday and facing charges including assault of a federal officer and discharging a firearm.

Across reports, the alleged manifesto described a plan to target Trump administration officials and laid out grievances alongside detailed claims about how the attacker viewed security at the Washington Hilton.

The Guardian said the manifesto “created a list of targets for the shooting, ranked from highest to lowest priority, with Trump administration officials at the top,” and it reported the manifesto targeted administration officials “with the exception of the FBI director, Kash Patel.”

Anadolu Ajansı

The Independent similarly described the manifesto as expressing “his intent to target officials from the Trump administration, excluding FBI Director Kash Patel,” and it said the manifesto identified Allen as the “Friendly Federal Assassin.”

News From The States reported Trump said the document revealed a “hatred” for Christianity, and it quoted Trump: “The guy is a sick guy,” adding, “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians. That's one thing for sure: He hates Christians.”

The Indian Express reported Trump said the shooter wrote an anti-Christian manifesto and called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin,” while NDTV described the document as signed “Cole 'coldForce' 'Friendly Federal Assassin' Allen.”

Several outlets also quoted the manifesto’s language about religious justification and minimizing casualties, including the line, “Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” which appeared in the Guardian’s account of the manifesto.

NDTV’s account included the manifesto’s statement about ammunition choice, quoting: “In order to minimise casualties, I will also be using buckshot rather than slugs (less penetration through walls).”

The Guardian also reported the manifesto said the shooter would treat Secret Service agents as targets “only if necessary,” and that hotel security, Capitol police, and the national guard would be classified as “not targets if at all possible (aka unless they shoot at me”.

Official and political reactions emphasized the alleged manifesto, the security response, and the question of whether the suspect’s family should have alerted authorities sooner.

“In short: Donald Trump says the man who opened fire at the White House correspondents' dinner in Washington had penned a manifesto that revealed he was "sick"”

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Trump described the attacker as “a ‘sick guy’” and told Fox News, “The guy is a sick guy,” while also saying, “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians. That's one thing for sure: He hates Christians.”

The Guardian reported Trump described the attacker as a “sick person” in an interview with 60 Minutes and accused interviewer Norah O’Donnell of being “a disgrace” for reading out portions of the manifesto on air.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Trump said the shooter’s manifesto revealed he was “sick,” and it quoted Trump: “The guy is a sick guy,” and “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians. That's one thing for sure. He hates Christians, a hatred.”

The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the shooter “sought to assassinate the president and kill as many top Trump administration officials as possible,” and she wrote on X that the dinner with jokes and celebrating free speech was “hijacked by a depraved crazy person.”

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC’s “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker” that the gunman appeared to be targeting administration officials, and the Guardian reported Blanche said investigators believed the attacker was targeting Trump and other senior administration officials.

The Guardian also reported that the Secret Service agent who was shot escaped serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest, and Trump said the agent’s condition was not serious.

In a separate report, Anadolu Ajansı said Trump described the suspect as “a deeply hateful individual driven by anti-Christian sentiment,” and it quoted Trump saying, “He had a lot of hatred in his heart for quite a while,” describing the motive as “strongly anti-Christian.”

While multiple outlets agreed the suspect was Cole Tomas Allen and that a manifesto existed, they differed in how they framed the motive and what details they foregrounded.

The Guardian emphasized anti-Trump sentiment as investigators assessed motive, reporting that “Investigators are looking into anti-Trump sentiment as being a motive for the attacker,” and it described the manifesto as ranking targets and excluding FBI Director Kash Patel.

Billings Gazette

The Guardian also reported that the manifesto did not reference Donald Trump by name but alluded to grievances and that it included the line, “I experience rage thinking about everything this administration has done.”

By contrast, News From The States foregrounded Trump’s interpretation of the manifesto as anti-Christian, quoting Trump: “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians. That's one thing for sure: He hates Christians.”

The Times of India similarly centered Trump’s characterization of the suspect, saying Trump described the man as one who “hates Christians” and a “sick guy,” and it reported Trump claimed members of the suspect’s family raised concerns with authorities.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation also highlighted the anti-Christian framing, quoting Trump: “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians. That's one thing for sure. He hates Christians, a hatred.”

NDTV and The Independent focused more on the manifesto’s technical and tactical claims, with NDTV quoting the buckshot line and describing the manifesto’s signature as “Cole 'coldForce' 'Friendly Federal Assassin' Allen,” while The Independent described the manifesto’s plan to use buckshot to minimize casualties.

WJLA, meanwhile, reported what the White House told 7News about the manifesto being “clearly stated” he wanted to target Trump administration officials, and it added that Secret Service and Montgomery County police interviewed Allen’s sister at her residence in Rockville, Maryland.

The incident has immediate legal and operational consequences, with multiple outlets reporting the suspect’s expected arraignment and the White House’s plans for changes to security at future events.

News From The States reported that Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the suspect would be arraigned in D.C. federal court on Monday, and it said Jeanine Pirro, the top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, said the man would be charged with using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

Boston Herald

The Guardian reported the suspect was set to be arraigned in federal court on Monday and said he faced charges of assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, while Blanche said additional charges could include attempted assassination of Trump depending on the investigation.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported the suspect would be formally charged in a Washington court on Monday, local time, and it said further charges were possible.

The White House Correspondents’ Association was also expected to revisit the event, and Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted its president, CBS reporter Weija Jiang, writing: “Trump insists we are having the dinner again in 30 days. Let's see.”

Several outlets also described the White House’s security response and its plans for a new secure ballroom, with Anadolu Ajansı reporting Trump doubled down on plans for a new secure ballroom on White House grounds featuring “nearly four-inch-thick bulletproof glass with drone-proofing capabilities,” on “the most secure ground, probably in the world.”

News From The States reported that Trump and MAGA allies online said security flaws exposed by the incident prove the need for a new secure ballroom at the White House.

In addition, the Guardian reported that investigators were assessing the manifesto and the suspect’s writings and electronic devices, and it said the suspect was not actively cooperating with the investigation at the time of some interviews.