Republicans in Congress are pushing to approve legal authority for the White House’s privately-backed ballroom project, which is facing a major court challenge. There was renewed interest and support for the ballroom, including from Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), following the attempted assassination of Trump administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. A district court judge recently said that Congress needs to clear a legal path for the project to proceed, according to The Washington Post. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT) explained Sunday on X that we would push for “unanimous consent” on a proposal that would grant “express approval” for ballroom construction, as it would be built where the East Wing used to be. “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. “There is no place for political violence in America. Unfortunately, it seems, too many people believe trying to kill our President and members of our government is acceptable,” he added, saying that presidents “should be able to host events in a secure area without attendees worrying about their safety.” In the House of Representatives, Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) posted Sunday that he’s introducing the “Build the Ballroom Act” for “explicit statutory authority” for the ballroom plan. “While the lawsuits attempting to stop this privately-funded gift to the country are nonsense, last night makes it clear that we need it — and we need it now,” Fine stated. “I look forward to Democrats repudiating their violent rhetoric against President Trump by cosponsoring and supporting this bill.” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) also posted that she is drafting a bill to get the project across the finish line. “I don’t believe congressional approval is required for the project, but if it’ll keep activist judges on the sideline, so be it,” she wrote. The Justice Department asked the National Trust for Historic Preservation to end its lawsuit after the incident, which left a Secret Service agent shot at the Washington Hilton. “Enough is enough. Your client should voluntarily dismiss this frivolous lawsuit today in light of last night’s assassination attempt on President Trump,” Brett Shumate, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division, wrote Sunday, saying that he plans to “move to dissolve the injunction and dismiss the case in light of last night’s extraordinary events” if the case was not dropped by Monday at 9 a.m. The Daily Wire reached out to the group for comment, but they did not immediately respond. “The White House ballroom will ensure the safety and security of the President for decades to come and prevent future assassination attempts on the President at the Washington Hilton,” he added. The preservation group argues that there needs to be more input into the project before it begins. “The National Trust remains committed to honoring the historic significance of the White House, advocating for our collective role as stewards, and demonstrating how broad consultation, including with the American people, results in a better overall outcome,” National Trust President and CEO Carol Quillen said after an April 11 federal circuit court of appeals order in the case that stopped construction.

After the latest assassination attempt targeting President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, three of the Democrat Party’s youngest and most powerful leaders decried the incident on social media. They got hammered. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on X, “Political violence is absolutely unacceptable. I am glad the President and guests at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner are safe.” Political violence is absolutely unacceptable. I am glad the President and guests at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner are safe. — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) April 26, 2026 Responses included: Your friend, Hasan Piker, openly calls for political assassinations Your wife, Rama Duwaji, openly endorses political murders Your staff, Alvaro Lopez, celebrated those who tore down posters of hostages as “heroes” We are against political killings. We fear you might not be. — Elica Le Bon الیکا‌ ل بن (@elicalebon) April 26, 2026 More dishonesty from NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mayor Mamdani embraces as friend and comrade Hasan Piker. Piker calls for assassination of U.S. Senator, Trump, and for the streets to "run with the blood" of capitalists. Piker is also a raging antisemite and October 7 rape… https://t.co/YqFjf2uEc2 pic.twitter.com/HFGZRGuWqj — Adam Mossoff (@AdamMossoff) April 26, 2026 Your wife literally celebrated October 7th, you idiot. — Vivid.

Late-night “comedian” Jimmy Kimmel is being put on blast by Melania Trump for a decidedly un-funny bit he did on Thursday about the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that’s even less humorous following the Saturday evening assassination attempt. In his little parody, the Trump-hating talk show host said, “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.” The clip aired Thursday night, two days before a crazed gunman gained access to the event with the intention of not only killing the president, but taking out everyone in the room if necessary. Melania did not take the “joke” lightly. Instead, she put Kimmel on blast, writing a scathing X post she shared Monday morning. “Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” she wrote. “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.” “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough.  It is time for ABC to take a stand,” the first lady added. “How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.” Kimmel’s parody also mocked the Trumps’ marriage by pretending to introduce them to each other. “Oh, by the way, Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania,” he went on. He also pretended to speculate on how Melania would spend her birthday, April 26, “She’s planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does, looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?'” As of Monday, the clip was still available on the official “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” YouTube page. The bit aired two days before California educator Cole Allen, 31, rushed a Secret Service checkpoint at the Washington Hilton armed with multiple weapons. He managed to strike an officer in his bulletproof vest before being detained and transported to a medical facility. President Trump and other high-ranking officials were evacuated safely from the event, and there were no fatalities. Kimmel’s hatred of the president has been on display for years, in his monologues and beyond. Following an ICE-related altercation in January, Kimmel had a shirt made that said, “Donald J. Trump Is Gonna Kill You,” and suggested that this was the “new slogan” for MAGA supporters. Kimmel went on to disparage Trump’s response to the shooting, saying, “This maniac, he’s not just killing people overseas.” His rhetoric, and that of other late-night hosts, has become increasingly controversial as leftist vigilantes ramp up their assaults on conservatives. And it’s not just Trump – Kimmel’s show has been hostile territory for Republicans while propping up Democrats since forever. Disgraced former Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) launched his gubernatorial campaign on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” before suspending the effort amid sexual assault allegations. A report published by the New York Post in December found that 92% of late-night jokes last year were targeted at conservatives. The full lineup of late-night shows included 197 liberal guests and only two who were conservative: Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld and economist Oren Cass. NewsBusters found that Kimmel was the worst offender, making jokes targeting conservatives more than 3,000 times and focusing most of his ire on President Donald Trump. Of those jokes, 1,668 were about the sitting president.

This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you. *** What began as a glittering evening at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner ended in chaos Saturday night when gunfire shattered the calm in the ballroom and sent journalists, officials, and their spouses scrambling for safety. According to reporting, the suspect, identified as Cole Allen, later admitted he had been targeting Trump administration officials. In an instant, the glitz of the night became irrelevant, and instincts took over. When there is no time for calculation, no time for messaging or spin, what you see is character — unfiltered and immediate. When the first shots rang out, White House adviser Stephen Miller reacted without hesitation. He immediately moved his wife, Katie — pregnant with their fourth child — down beneath him and covered her with his body, placing himself between her and the direction of the gunfire. Video shows that as they were evacuated, he remained close behind her, steadying her and guiding her forward. In the hours that followed, critics on social media attempted to twist the scene, falsely accusing him of using her as a shield. The shots came from behind him, and his body position reflected that reality. His instinct was not to hide; it was to protect. You can tell a lot about a man about how they instinctively respond when it hits the fan. In this photo, Stephen Miller moves on top of his pregnant wife to protect her. Pete Hegseth stands over his wife, surveying the scene while leaning over, protecting her. pic.twitter.com/kEvHgg56bo — Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) April 26, 2026 He wasn’t the only one. Nearby, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth responded with similar decisiveness. As everyone around him hid under tables, he stood to assess the situation, physically placing himself between danger and his wife, Jenny. When agents moved to evacuate the room, he cleared a path, pushing aside chairs and obstacles with a flick of his hand, and ensured that she moved ahead of him toward safety. Accounts from inside the ballroom suggest that President Donald Trump himself behaved in much the same way. Spanish journalist David Alandete described how Trump resisted being rushed out blindly, demanding clarity about what was happening even as agents attempted to move him. He insisted that Melania Trump be evacuated first and that the visibly pregnant press secretary be prioritized as well. Only after ensuring others were being moved to safety did he leave, on his own two feet, even after being jostled by agents trying to hurry him along. These moments matter precisely because unlike the rest of the night, these moments were not rehearsed. No one is thinking about optics when shots are fired, and there is no time to construct an image. There is only the split-second decision of whether to turn inward or outward — whether to preserve yourself or protect others. For years, we have been told that masculinity is something to be softened, redefined, or even suppressed. The phrase “toxic masculinity” has been applied so broadly that manhood has been under attack for years. But what unfolded that night offered a reminder: In moments of danger, the best men do not retreat into themselves. A real man responds to danger by deciding to shield, guide, and then acts. Not every member of the administration that night reflected that instinct. Videos immediately emerged of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as chaos broke out, showing his wife, Cheryl Hines, left navigating the disrupted room behind him. In heels and formalwear, she struggled to move across the space and ultimately had to seek assistance on her own, tapping an agent to help her as others focused on evacuating him. It is an uncomfortable contrast, with Stephen Miller being seen gently guiding his own wife in the same video angles. Later that evening, as the Cabinet regrouped, another image began circulating, one that captured the same instinct. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood in a white dress shirt on a chilly night. His suit jacket was draped around his wife, covering her strapless gown as the shock of the night set in. It was not as dramatic a moment as the one we saw in the ballroom, but it was telling. The instinct to be a caretaker remained, and Rubio displayed the fact that his wife came first.   Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images We have seen this instinct before under even more harrowing circumstances. During the assassination attempt at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Corey Comperatore was killed shielding his family, placing his body between them and the gunfire. That same event became, in many ways, a defining moment of the election cycle. When President Trump rose to his feet after being shot, bloodied but defiant, and shouted “fight, fight,” it crystallized something for millions of Americans. It was not simply about politics. It was about projection — about what kind of strength a country wants to embody. It is difficult to imagine a similar moment playing out the same way for former President Joe Biden. Fair or not, the contrast is part of the broader perception voters carry with them. Leadership, especially in moments of crisis, is not only about policy positions or speeches. It is about strength, resilience, and the ability to project confidence under pressure. The image from Butler was not crafted or rehearsed; it was incredibly revealing about the man running for office. And for many, it confirmed what they already believed they were not seeing from the current Biden administration. The same dynamic, on a smaller but still meaningful scale, played out at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. In a room filled with some of the most powerful people in Washington, stripped of ceremony and pretense, instinct took over. Some men stepped forward into that role without hesitation. Others did not. There is a tendency in modern discourse to treat differences between men and women as largely constructed, to downplay the idea that certain instincts are deeply rooted rather than socially imposed. But moments like these cut through that fiction. When danger is immediate, men act according to who they are. Saturday night revealed that there are still men who understand, at a fundamental level, what it means to protect the people entrusted to them. They do not wait to be told. They do not calculate how it will look. They simply act. There are, in fact, good men in this administration. And in moments like the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, that reality is impossible to ignore. *** Bethany Mandel (@bethanyshondark) is a homeschooling mother of six and a writer. She is the bestselling co-author, with Karol Markowicz, of “Stolen Youth: How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation.”

Former President Barack Obama commented Sunday on the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump and administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and claimed that it was unclear why the gunman opened fire at the event. Obama addressed the shooting in a social media post hours after reports shed light on the gunman’s plan and reason for targeting Trump at the dinner. When Obama condemned the attack, however, he claimed that “details about the motives” remained a mystery. “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,” Obama wrote. “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.” The shooter, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of California, laid out his plan and defended his violence in a 1,000-word document that he posted minutes before his attack. In the manifesto, Allen referred to Trump as a “pedophile, rapist, and traitor” and called himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin.” Allen wrote that his goal was to murder Trump administration officials at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, targeting them from “highest-ranking to lowest,” excluding FBI Director Kash Patel for unknown reasons. After the shooting, Republicans — including President Donald Trump — urged Democrats to tone down their political rhetoric and “resolve our differences.” “I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats … is very dangerous,” Trump told CBS News during a “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday. It appears that Allen bought into many leftist talking points regarding President Trump and his administration’s policies. Allen latched onto conspiracy theories about Trump’s involvement with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and condemned U.S. military strikes on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean, calling them “fisherman executed without trial.” Allen, who described himself as a Christian, argued that his faith required him to turn to violence for the sake of people who are being “oppressed.” In his manifesto, Allen sought to reconcile his faith with his heinous plan. “Turning the other cheek is for when you yourself are oppressed. Turning the other cheek when someone else is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” Allen wrote. While the gunman claimed that he intended to “minimize casualties” of event attendees, he wrote that he was willing to open fire on anyone in the ballroom. “I would still go through most everyone here to get to the targets if it were absolutely necessary (on the basis that most people *chose* to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit) but I really hope it doesn’t come to that,” he wrote in the manifesto. Allen was taken down by Secret Service agents at the Washington Hilton before he made it to the ballroom. One Secret Service agent was shot by the gunman, but his bulletproof vest stopped the bullet.