What We Know About Security at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

A suspect is in custody after an incident in which shots were fired outside the annual White House correspondents’ dinner in Washington on April 25, which was attended by President Donald Trump, but what do we know about the security procedures in place on the night?

The president and First Lady Melania Trump were evacuated from the dinner, which was taking place in the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, after a gunman breached security and shot a Secret Service agent.

The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner has taken place every year since 1921, and the first president to attend one was Calvin Coolidge in 1924.

The association has 900 members from 300 news outlets, including The Epoch Times, as well as freelance journalists who cover the White House.

Trump had chosen not to attend previous dinners, but he announced on social media last month that he had agreed to come to the event on April 25.

In a post on Truth Social on March 2, Trump wrote: “Because the Press was extraordinarily bad to me, fake news all, right from the beginning of my First Term, I boycotted the event, and never went as Honoree. However, I look forward to being with everyone this year. Hopefully, it will be something very Special.

“In honor of our Nation’s 250th Birthday and the fact that these ‘Correspondents’ now admit that I am truly one of the Greatest Presidents in the History of our Country, the G.O.A.T., according to many, it will be my Honor to accept their invitation, and work to make it the greatest, hottest, and most spectacular dinner, of any kind ever!”

The public, therefore, knew seven weeks in advance that Trump would be attending the event, which has taken place at the Washington Hilton for several years.

Scene of Reagan Shooting

The hotel was the venue of an assassination attempt on March 30, 1981, when President Ronald Reagan was struck by a bullet after speaking at a union convention there. The would-be assassin, John Hinckley Jr., pleaded guilty by reason of insanity and finally said sorry for his actions in 2022.

Reagan’s press secretary James Brady—who was shot and paralysed by Hinckley—died in 2014, aged 73.

But that shooting took place on the street, whereas Saturday’s incident took place inside the hotel.

The interim police chief for Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department, Jeffery Carroll, told reporters on April 25 that the suspect was understood to have booked into the hotel, which is how he was able to get past the outermost layer of security at the event.

Footage posted on social media appears to show the suspect running past a security cordon near the ballroom before being shot at by Secret Service agents.

The hotel had been closed to the public from 2 p.m. on April 25, ahead of the dinner which began at 8 p.m.

Dozens of protesters gathered in the rain outside the event, but access to the hotel was restricted to hotel guests, those with tickets to the dinner, or documents issued by the WHCA saying they were affiliated with the dinner, such as catering staff.

Only the 2,300 people with tickets to the dinner, which took place in the hotel’s underground ballroom, were permitted through several additional checks to enter the room.

Airport-Style Scanners at Checkpoint

They also had to pass through airport-style magnetometers manned by Secret Service agents and Transportation Security Administration staff.

Within the ballroom itself, the Secret Service maintained another perimeter around Trump, including a buffer zone separating him and the rest of the head table from the rest of the dinner guests.

Armored plates, hidden from sight, were under the table at which Trump was seated.

Secret Service agents, carrying holstered handguns, were at their posts in front of the stage, and heavily armed agents waited in the wings, trained for counter-assault in the event of a threat.

Several other guests at the dinner had their own security details. Trump had been due to make a speech at 9 p.m., but, according to several Epoch Times staff on the scene, about five shots rang out at around 8:40 p.m, and then Secret Service agents rushed the stage.

The suspect, identified as Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was detained at the scene. Allen was allegedly armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives.

Secret Service director Sean Curran said after the incident that there had been no security failures.

“It shows that our multi-layered protection works,” Curran said.

Carroll echoed his comments and said after the incident, the Secret Service’s security plan “did work this evening.”

Trump gave a press briefing at the White House after the incident.

“One officer was shot, but saved by the fact that he was wearing an obviously, a very good bulletproof vest,” Trump said. “He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun.”

In an interview with Fox News on April 26, Trump said the suspect had written an “anti-Christian” manifesto.

“The guy is a sick guy. When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians,” Trump said.

Previous Assassination Attempts

Trump has been the subject of several assassination attempts, including in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. On that occasion, Thomas Crooks, 20, managed to fire several shots at Trump—one of which pierced his ear—during a campaign rally before being gunned down by FBI agents.

In July 2025, a task force produced a report into the Butler shooting, which found there had been failures of leadership within the Secret Service, inadequate training, and a lack of clarity about “the roles and responsibilities for counter-sniper response.”

In February, Ryan Routh was jailed for life for attempting to assassinate Trump, then a presidential candidate, on a golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2024.

In the aftermath of the report into the Butler assassination attempt, Secret Service Director Sean Curran said in a statement to The Epoch Times: “Following the events of July 13, the Secret Service took a serious look at our operations and implemented substantive reforms to address the failures that occurred that day.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.