Trump shooting latest: President lashes out at questions over shooter’s manifesto and blames Democrats for political violencenewsline24

As has become routine after major news events, conspiracy theories spread rapidly online in the wake of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

As WIRED notes, numerous users on the left-leaning Bluesky social network simply posted the word “STAGED” after the shooting.

Others on X, which tends to lean more rightward, claimed the shooting was a false flag operation meant to drum up support for President Trump’s White House ballroom project.

Right-wing content creator Matt Walsh seemed to mock these individuals in an X post of his own.

“So in summary we have a plot where all parties involved are working against their own interests with no real discernible benefit to any of them,” he wrote. “There is no evidence of this plan and it doesn’t even make any intuitive sense and the motives for everyone are unclear if not insane, but still I believe it because I’m a very smart person.”

People who knew Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Allen at his alma matter Caltech are shocked their former classmate is accused of attempting to attack the president.

“I’m pretty shaken up,” Sheila Murthy told The Wall Street Journal.

She described Allen as “somewhat reserved, quiet, and introverted to say the least,” during their time at Caltech, one of the nation’s premier science and engineering universities.

Adrian Costantino, who graduated with Allen, painted a similar picture.

“We were all a little weird, a little nerdy but he was even more nerdy,” he told the Journal. “But he was always nice and kind to people. When I heard about him being involved in this, I was like, holy s***, this is not what I would expect of him.”

White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen sprinted through a security checkpoint and nearly made it into the ballroom where the president, top cabinet figures, and large swathes of the Washington press corps were located, according to security footage and bystanders.

“His face was determined,” attendee Erin Thielman told The Washington Post. “Eyes wide open, mouth in line with determination. He was zeroed in and focused. I can’t get his face out of my mind.”

Allen nearly made it to a staircase leading into the ballroom, according to an analysis by the paper, but he was apprehended by security officers.

Late Saturday, President Trump shared blurry security video footage that allegedly showed Allen running past the checkpoint and agents drawing their guns.

Local leaders in Torrance, California, the home of White House Correspondents’ Dinner Shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen, are reacting with shock and dismay.

“The City of Torrance stands firmly against political violence, extremism, and acts of hatred in any form,” Mayor George K. Chen said in a statement late Saturday. “We reject attempts to sow fear or division, whether here at home or anywhere in our country.”

Dylan Wakayama, president of the Asian American Civic Trust, told The Los Angeles Times that Allen tutored students associated with the organization.

“They thought he was very intelligent, proficient in biology, mathematics and science,” he said. “They thought he was on the nicer, quiet side. They were completely shocked when I told them that this all went down.”

“I think all of us in Torrance would be shocked if this is the man who attempted to kill the president of the United States,” he added.

A man is in custody following last night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner attack. But what was the motive? As investigators continue their probe, here’s what we know so far:

• President Trump will be on CBS’s 60 Minutes tonight to discuss the latest on the attack.
• The suspected gunman has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, California. FBI agents are going door to door in his neighborhood.
• In writings sent to family members prior to the attack, the suspect described himself as “Friendly Federal Assassin”
• A manifesto found in his hotel allegedly revealed that he planned to target Trump administration officials, “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest”
• Trump said Allen was “a very troubled guy” who “hates Christians”
• Allen purchased a .38-caliber semi-automatic pistol from a store in southern California on October 6, 2023. On August 17, 2025, Allen bought a 12-gauge shotgun from another gun store in his hometown. The guns were purchased legally.
• Investigators determined that the suspect took a train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then from Chicago to Washington, where he had a hotel room at the site of the shooting.

• The Secret Service officer who was struck by a round was wearing a bulletproof vest and has been released from the hospital.
• President Trump said the shooting proves why the construction of a $400 million White House ballroom is crucial for national security, claiming it could prevent future incidents.
• The suspect will face federal firearm and assault charges and is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Monday.
• Buckingham Palace has confirmed King Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit to the US will go ahead as planned. They arrive on Monday.
• White House Correspondents’ Association president Weijia Jiang said the organization’s board will be meeting to assess the incident and will “determine how to proceed.”

In a preview clip from President Trump’s interview on tonight’s 60 Minutes, he admits that he “wasn’t making it that easy” for the Secret Service when shots rang out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner because he wanted to see what was going on.

“I wanted to see what was happening,” Trump said when the Secret Service rushed in after shots rang out.

“And I wasn’t making it that easy for them. I wanted to see what was going on. And by that time we started to realize maybe it was a bad problem.”

Republican lawmakers plan to turn President Trump’s call to create his ballroom after the shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday evening into legislation.

Sen. Tim Sheehy, a freshman from Montana, said that this week, he will request unanimous consent for legislation to express support for the creation of the ballroom in the East Wing of the White House.

“It is an embarrassment to the strongest nation on earth that we cannot host gatherings in our nation’s capital, including ones attended by our President, without the threat of violence and attempted assassinations,” Sheehy said.

The president has made the construction of the $400m structure at the White House a top priority, despite the fact many Americans disapprove of its construction. Polling last year showed Americans were unhappy about the demolition of the East Wing of the White House for its construction.

But since the shooting on Saturday evening, when a gunman opened fire at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was hosted, Trump and his administration have made the case that the ballroom is a national security priority.

“Although we don’t yet have the details about the motives behind last night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner, it’s incumbent upon all us to reject the idea that violence has any place in our democracy. It’s also a sobering reminder of the courage and sacrifice that U.S. Secret Service Agents show every day. I’m grateful to them – and thankful that the agent who was shot is going to be okay.”

MAGA ally Kari Lake is playing the blame game after she was rushed out of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner alongside other attendees when a gunman opened fire at the event.

Lake, the senior advisor to the United States Agency for Global Media, says she did not waste a minute in confronting CNN anchor Jake Tapper for “spreading lies” about President Donald Trump in the middle of their evacuation Saturday night from the Washington Hilton.

“I walked out right next to Jake Tapper and looked him in the eye,” Lake, 56, said on Newsmax hours after the shooting. “And I said, ‘How dare you? You have caused so much division in this country pushing lies. We’re not going to call it gaslighting anymore — you’ve lied to the people. How dare you do that?”

In a letter shared by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche Sunday on X, the Justice Department is asking the National Trust for Historic Preservation to drop its lawsuit seeking to stop the president from building a White House ballroom.

The letter claims last night’s shooting shows that the proposed ballroom is needed “for the safety and security of the President.”

“Put simply, your lawsuit puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at grave risk,” the department’s civil division head, Brett Shumate, wrote.

“I hope yesterday’s narrow miss will help you finally realize the folly of a lawsuit that literally serves no purpose except to stop President Trump no matter the cost.”