Dinner Suspect

• A suspect was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate President Trump after storming the White House Correspondents' Association dinner with multiple weapons in April 2026. • The incident has intensified partisan disputes over political rhetoric and violence, with both parties blaming the other's language for contributing to the escalation. • The alleged assassination attempt has shocked Washington and drawn comparisons to historical political violence, prompting discussions about security and the current political climate.

The chief of the ​District of Columbia police department said investigators believe the suspect was a guest at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the annual dinner was ​taking place, but that no motive had been determined.

• White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt took questions from reporters as Cole Allen, the suspect accused of opening fire at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, prepared for his first court appearance on Monday. • Allen is accused of opening fire at the annual dinner while politicians, journalists, and celebrities were in attendance, with Leavitt and other Trump Cabinet members present in the room. • The incident represents a serious security breach at a high-profile event attended by senior government officials and media figures.

Alleged shooter, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, faces potential life sentence. Plus: the Americans renouncing their citizenshipGood morning.The suspect accused of trying to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner was charged on Monday with three federal crimes, including attempting to assassinate the president – a charge that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.What was his motive? Investigators have yet to release one. However, to establish the charge of attempted assassination, the affidavit quotes from a part of a manifesto Allen allegedly sent to family members that states: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”Was lax security to blame? While many have praised the actions of law enforcement officers in swiftly stopping the attack, Allen’s alleged manifesto mocked an “insane” lack of security at the Washington dinner.What is the Trump administration saying about the attack? Several officials, including the president, have seized on the incident to advance their case for the completion of Trump’s $40m White House ballroom project, with the justice department pressuring a preservation group to drop a lawsuit seeking to halt the construction.Will there be an Oval Office meeting? Sources told the Guardian that Charles will pose for the cameras at the start of his centerpiece bilateral meeting on Tuesday, but that British officials have pushed for the Oval Office meeting to be held off camera, for fear of a repeat of the scenes when Trump berated the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in front of the world’s press.What challenges does the king face with this visit? Relations between the UK and the US are already tense following Trump’s public criticism of Britain’s refusal to back military action against Iran, but Charles is also meeting Trump under the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein. Charles’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his connection with Epstein. Continue reading...

Manifesto reportedly written by suspect had Trump administration officials at top of list. Plus, the world’s first marathon run in under two hoursGood morning.The suspected gunman in the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday evening, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, from Torrance, California, is due to appear in court later today.What will he be charged with? 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 went, he might also be charged with the attempted assassination of Trump.What’s the mood like in Washington? A stunned Washington is soul-searching about political violence, while questions are also being asked about security.Follow the latest updates in our liveblog here.What has Donald Trump said about it? Trump has said Iran can telephone if it wants to negotiate an end to the war and that it must agree never to have a nuclear weapon, while Pakistan’s leaders have sought to revive the stalled peace talks between Washington and Tehran. Continue reading...

Alleged shooter expected to appear in federal court and could be charged with trying to assassinate TrumpThe suspected gunman who tried to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner was expected to appear in federal court to face criminal charges on Monday.The alleged shooter, identified by law enforcement agencies as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old man from Torrance in southern California, faces charges including assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer. Continue reading...