Trump news at a glance: Law enforcement reportedly reassessing security arrangements after press dinner shooting | Trump administration
US law enforcement officials are reportedly reassessing security arrangements after a gunman opened fire near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, raising questions about how he was able to get so close to an event attended by president Donald Trump, cabinet members and lawmakers.
Former Secret Service agents and senior US officials told the Reuters news agency that federal agents appeared to carry out their plan to protect the president effectively on Saturday night, stopping the alleged gunman before he reached the basement level of the Washington Hilton, where Trump was set to speak.
But the fact that some attendees could hear the shots fired at a Secret Service agent underscored vulnerabilities, the officials said.
The most obvious lesson from the incident, the former law enforcement officials said, is that security personnel may need to expand the protective perimeter around the president at large public venues, even if that leads to public inconvenience.
Anti-Trump sentiment being examined as motive for White House press dinner shooting
Investigators are looking into anti-Trump sentiment as being a motive for the attacker who sought to breach the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington DC where the US president and top members of his administration were present.
Backing up that view is a manifesto reportedly written by the suspect, who has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California. In the alleged manifesto, which was published in full by the New York Post, Allen created a list of targets for the shooting, ranked from highest to lowest priority, with Trump administration officials at the top.
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Trump tells 60 Minutes he ‘wasn’t worried’ during correspondents’ dinner shooting
Donald Trump spoke with CBS correspondent Norah O’Donnell in an interview that aired Sunday night on 60 Minutes describing his ordeal at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner when shots rang out.
“I wasn’t worried,” Trump said in the interview when asked how worried he was about possible injuries after hearing the gun shots. “I understand life. We live in a crazy world.”
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Washington in shock after White House press dinner shooting: ‘an angry, polarized nation’
A stunned Washington faced searching questions about political violence and gun control on Sunday after shots were fired at a prestigious media gala attended by Donald Trump and senior White House officials.
A man targeted a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel the previous night before being tackled and arrested. Trump and Melania Trump were rushed out of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner as guests dived for cover under tables.
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King Charles’s security for US visit under review after Washington shooting
King Charles’s security is being reviewed before his state visit to the US this week, Buckingham Palace has said, after a gunman attempted to storm a dinner attended by Donald Trump in Washington DC.
In a statement on Sunday evening, Buckingham Palace said: “Following discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of government, we can confirm the state visit by their majesties will proceed as planned.
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US is taking a ‘real risk’ with hasty shift in efforts to fight HIV, experts say
The US government released likely the last report from Pepfar (President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief) earlier this month and the chief science officer announced his resignation days later as the US moves to a patchwork of individual partnerships with each country, potentially driven by resource extraction.
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No headway in Middle East peace efforts as US and Iran refuse to yield
Hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations between Iran and the US faded further on Sunday, amid a deepening sense of deadlock in the nearly two-month-long conflict despite intense regional diplomatic activity.
Washington and Tehran appear unwilling to moderate rhetoric or make concessions, and there are no negotiations scheduled that might bring the war to a definitive end.
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What else happened today:
Ahead of this year’s White House correspondents’ dinner, conversations centered on the role of the media and freedom of the press. Instead – as Rachel Leingang writes – the event ended like many in the US do: with gun violence.
Leaders from around the world have condemned the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night as an act of “political violence” and expressed relief that Donald Trump, officials and journalists were unharmed.
Catching up? Here’s what happened Saturday 25 April.