WASHINGTON — A gunman sprinted through security and fired shots outside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, prompting the Secret Service to evacuate President Donald Trump and other United States leaders from the event. The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press. Police said they "exchanged gunfire" with the suspect, but he was not hit. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the suspect was in the hospital, but did not provide a status. During a press conference back at the White House, the president identified the gunman as a man from California, who had been "captured." He said officials believe the man acted as a "lone wolf." Interim Chief of Police of the Metropolitan Police Department Jeffery W. Carroll said Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun and multiple knives. He said preliminary evidence shows the suspect was a guest at the hotel where the dinner was being held. "The president and the first lady are safe along all protectees," Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi wrote in a statement. "Law enforcement is actively assessing the situation." A law enforcement officer took a shot to the vest and was taken to the hospital for treatment. Weijia Jiang, White House Correspondents' Association President, confirmed there were no injuries after the incident. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the same hotel — an event that prompted redesigns of the property that increased security and added a special presidential suite near the entrance where chief executives could be taken. First Lady Melania Trump rebuked Disney-owned ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel following his Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue in which he said Mrs. Trump has “a glow like an expectant widow,” calling Kimmel a “coward,” describing his rhetoric as divisive, and pressing ABC to take action. Writing on X from the official First Lady account, Melania Trump said: “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.” “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” Mrs. Trump said. “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him.” Directing her remark at ABC parent company Disney, Mrs. Trump “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community,” Kimmel’s recent comments follow prior backlash tied to his on-air remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In September 2025, he said that Republicans and others were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” referring to the “MAGA gang,” a characterization disputed by officials and case details indicating a left-leaning ideology. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) is calling on Democrats to “stop playing politics” and fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Secret Service after the third assassination attempt on President Donald Trump. “When will the DEMOCRATS stop playing politics and speak out against assassination attempts on our PRESIDENT? Enough is enough,” Scott said in a post to X on Sunday, the morning after a suspected shooter tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner to attack President Trump and administration officials. “This week, the Senate should put Democrats on record again and see how they vote. Will they decide now is a good time to finally fund Secret Service and all of DHS? Even after last night’s violence and ANOTHER assassination attempt against the President of the United States this shouldn’t be such a fight to get done,” the senator continued. “Democrats have REFUSED to pay Secret Service agents for over 70 DAYS. The very agents that put their lives on the line to protect others and keep our nation safe. The Democrats need to give up this RIDICULOUS political stunt and FULLY FUND DHS,” Scott concluded. TSA officers screened 3 million passengers a day this spring. They did it without paychecks. Some sold plasma to pay their bills. Others slept in their cars. Some just quit. Sixty days into the longest partial shutdown in American history, Congress returned from its two-week recess and still has not fixed it. Both sides have blocked proposals. Both sides have pointed fingers. Both sides have taken a recess while government employees were working without pay. This is a modern Congress problem, and the pattern predates any single party or president. To understand why it keeps happening, consider how rare it once was. Between 1995 and 2013, the government did not shut down once. What was once a last resort is now a governing strategy, and a remarkably consequence-free one at that. The 2013 shutdown cost taxpayers an estimated $2.5 billion dollars in pay for work that never got done. Shutdowns do not save money – they burn it. The bill lands on everyone except the people who caused it: Congress. That’s the real problem. Article I of the Constitution gives Congress one unambiguous duty: fund the government. Not negotiate forever. Not leverage essential workers as bargaining chips. Fund it. Yet only about 4% of Americans express great confidence in how Congress is being run. Despite the lack of results and confidence, incumbents keep winning reelection, and not a single institutional mechanism exists to track whether Congress performed its most fundamental obligation. This is why shutdowns continue to happen and are increasing in duration and frequency. The system charges lawmakers nothing for failure. Two changes would fix that immediately. First, automatically delay congressional pay the moment a shutdown begins; members would then collect back pay only once a budget is signed. Next, implement a standing rule in each chamber requiring the session to continue until funding is restored – no new bureaucracy or constitutional amendment required, just a simple rule that says if government workers don’t get paid, then neither does Congress. No one goes home until it’s fixed. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/shutdowns-persist-because-congress-pays-no-price/ Liberal TV network ABC has ignited volcanic backlash by refusing to fire “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel, who is continuing to recklessly incite violence against conservatives. In refusing to curb Kimmel’s dangerous rhetoric, ABC made clear not only its toxic left-wing bias, but also its disregard for public safety and national security. The brouhaha erupted on April 23, when Kimmel flippantly joked about the multiple assassination attempts on President Donald Trump by referring to first lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow.” The public is used to liberal entertainers and politicians downplaying or excusing the nonstop stream of left-wing violence, including the Black Lives Matter riots, and the countless assaults and death threats against conservatives. To underscore how desensitized the establishment media outlets have made violence against conservatives, imagine the outrage if there had been three assassination attempts on Barack Obama when he was president. https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/04/abc-not-firing-jimmy-kimmel-melania-widow-comments/ 
31-year-old gunman was armed with multiple weapons at White House Correspondents' Dinner:
Melania Trump: ‘Coward’ Jimmy Kimmel ‘Deepens the Political Sickness Within America,’ Calls on ABC to ‘Take a Stand’
Sen. Rick Scott Calls on Democrats to ‘Stop Playing Politics,’ Fund Secret Service After Trump Assassination Attempt:
Shutdowns Persist Because Congress Pays No Price:
Federal workers missed paychecks for over 60 days. Congress missed none.
ABC Not Firing Jimmy Kimmel After Melania ‘Widow’ Comments Feels Like Network Flipping Off Millions: