Cole Tomas Allen Tries To Storm White House Correspondents’ Dinner as King Charles Security Reviewed

A gunman attempted to storm the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington DC on Saturday night, prompting Secret Service agents to evacuate Donald Trump and other members of his administration after shots were heard.

Buckingham Palace said King Charles’s security is being reviewed before his state visit to the US this week, after the incident.

AP News

The Guardian reported that guests at the White House correspondents’ dinner “hid under tables when gunshots were heard,” and that “Nobody was killed in the attack,” though “one officer wearing a bulletproof vest who was shot was taken to hospital.”

The suspect was identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California, and the Guardian said he was “arrested on suspicion of assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon and taken into police custody.”

The Independent similarly described the dinner as “thrown into chaos” when “shots fired” led to Trump being “swiftly evacuated by Secret Service agents.”

In Washington, the BBC said the palace statement came “ahead of his trip to the US on Monday,” adding that the King was “being kept fully informed of developments” and “greatly relieved” that Trump, Melania Trump and “all other guests had been unharmed.”

The BBC also reported that Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said he was “very confident” the King will be safe during the four-day state visit.

Across outlets, the immediate response to the shooting centered on whether it would change operational planning for King Charles’s trip.

Buckingham Palace said “a number of discussions will be taking place throughout the day to discuss with US colleagues and our respective teams to what degree the events of Saturday evening may or may not impact on the operational planning for the visit,” a formulation repeated by the Guardian, the Independent, and the BBC.

Bangor Daily News

Darren Jones, chief secretary to the prime minister, told Sky News that “As you would imagine, with His Majesty the King, this week our teams are working closely to ensure that security arrangements are put appropriately in place,” and the Independent quoted Jones’s language directly.

The BBC reported that Jones said the government and Buckingham Palace had been in “close co-operation” with US officials before the trip and that “Further discussions will be taking place today ahead of next week.”

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News’ Meet The Press that there was an “all-government approach” and that the events of Saturday night showed the US security system worked.

The BBC also added that Blanche said the suspect “will be charged in federal court on Monday” and that he was “believed to have been targeting Trump administration officials.”

The Guardian said Charles was due to visit Virginia, New York and Washington DC during a four-day trip beginning on Monday to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.

Political and official reactions in the sources tied the security review to broader condemnation of the attack and to confidence that the King would be protected.

The BBC reported that Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the incident, quoting his statement: “Any attack on democratic institutions or on the freedom of the press must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

The BBC also quoted Starmer’s “huge relief” line, stating: “It is a huge relief that [the President], the First Lady and all those attending are safe.”

In the same coverage, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey wrote on X that “Political violence is wrong. We must all condemn this attack and be thankful no lives were lost,” while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it was “a relief that all attendees were safe” and added, “However much we disagree about politics, if violence is used we all lose.”

The Guardian reported that Buckingham Palace said Charles was “greatly relieved to hear that the president, first lady and all guests have been unharmed,” and it included the palace’s statement that Charles was “kept fully informed of developments.”

Darren Jones told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that “There’ll be appropriate security in place in relation to the risk,” and he said the government and palace took the King’s safety “very seriously.”

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche told NBC News’ Meet The Press that he was “very confident” the King will be safe and described an “all-government approach” to ensure the country was safe.

The sources diverged in how they framed the shooting’s implications for the King’s trip, even while repeating core details about the palace’s Sunday messaging.

The Guardian emphasized that Charles’s security was “being reviewed” and connected the incident to the operational planning for the visit, while also describing the suspect’s background as “31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, California” and noting he was “understood to have been staying at the hotel.”

BBC

The Independent likewise focused on the review but foregrounded the political context, saying the prime minister had an “increasingly fractious relationship” with Trump “as a result of the UK’s refusal to be dragged into the Iran war,” and it described the state visit as beginning “at the end of the month.”

The BBC, by contrast, stressed official confidence and process, reporting Blanche’s “very confident” assessment and the “all-government approach,” and it also said the suspect “will be charged in federal court on Monday.”

Local and regional outlets leaned into the immediate coordination angle: Bangor Daily News said Buckingham Palace would hold discussions with “U.S. authorities” to determine whether the shooting would affect planning, and it reported that Blanche was “confident King Charles would be safe.”

Asian outlets framed the same security breach through the lens of UK-US cooperation, with NDTV saying Britain and Buckingham Palace took the King’s security “very seriously” and that Darren Jones said “our security services obviously remain in close cooperation in advance of that.”

The Times of India similarly described “stepped up coordination” and quoted Jones saying “His Majesty’s security is taken very seriously,” while Metro.co.uk and GB News treated the incident as a trigger for heightened scrutiny, with GB News quoting commentator Richard Fitzwilliams saying, “Clearly, it will be further strengthened.”

The sources describe a state visit that is still scheduled to proceed, but now under heightened attention to security arrangements and public-facing elements.

The Guardian said Charles is due to visit Virginia, New York and Washington DC during a four-day trip beginning on Monday, and it listed ceremonial plans including a “9/11 wreath-laying ceremony with the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani,” in memory of “the 67 British people killed in the 2001 attack, which took at least 2,606 lives.”

CBS News

The BBC said the King will be accompanied by Queen Camilla during the four-day visit and that he is expected to address both houses of Congress, visit the 9/11 memorial in New York, and attend a wreath laying to honour fallen US and UK soldiers in Virginia.

The BBC also reported that the suspect would be charged in federal court on Monday, and it said the events of Saturday night showed the US security system worked, while still urging review of the monarch’s protection.

Chris Philp told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that it was “vital” to ensure the King was properly protected and urged US and UK teams to review the monarch’s security overnight, saying security arrangements were ordinarily very tight but should be reviewed “to make sure there are no loopholes at all.”

The Guardian and Independent both quoted Buckingham Palace’s line that Charles was “kept fully informed of developments,” and the palace said discussions would continue throughout the day about whether the incident would “impact on the operational planning for the visit.”

Even as the trip proceeds, the BBC excerpt described potential adaptations, stating “This could include considering the King's interactions with the public,” and it contrasted that with Trump’s UK visit where “almost all the events happened inside Windsor Castle.”