President Donald Trump wasted no time in getting back to business as usual after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, offering new details about the suspect as he recounted the attempted attack and took swipes at left-wing media. The “60 Minutes” interview came less than 24 hours after a gunman, identified by authorities as Cole Tomas Allen, stormed a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, opening fire outside the ballroom where the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner was underway. The incident forced Secret Service agents to evacuate Trump, the First Lady, and hundreds of high-profile attendees. Trump, reflecting on the suspect during the interview, described a man he believes had undergone a dramatic ideological shift. “I read a manifesto. He’s radicalized,” Trump said, adding that Allen had moved from being “a Christian believer” to embracing “anti-Christian” views. He also pointed to warning signs from the suspect’s family, claiming both Allen’s brother and sister had raised concerns about his behavior prior to the attack. Law enforcement reporting aligns with parts of that account. Authorities say Allen sent a note to family members shortly before the shooting apologizing for what he was about to do, while expressing rage at the administration and outlining a plan to target government officials inside the event. Investigators believe he acted alone and had traveled cross-country by train before checking into the hotel. Trump, however, struck a measured tone when asked about his own reaction in the moment. “I wasn’t worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world,” he said, while acknowledging that the situation was inherently dangerous. He described initially resisting Secret Service efforts to move him, saying he wanted to understand what was happening before ultimately complying with agents’ commands to get low and evacuate.     “I said, ‘Wait a minute. Let me see what’s going on,’” Trump recounted. “Then they said, ‘Please go down,’ and I dropped to the floor.” He praised First Lady Melania Trump’s composure under pressure, noting that while she had not previously experienced an incident of that magnitude, “she handled it great” and quickly understood the seriousness of the situation. The president also offered a vivid description of the Secret Service response, emphasizing the speed with which agents neutralized the threat. “They were so professional,” he said. “They saw him, they drew their guns, and they took him down immediately.” At least one agent was struck during the exchange but was protected by a ballistic vest and is expected to recover. Trump used the moment to defend the broader security apparatus, calling the response effective even as questions mount about how the suspect was able to breach an outer checkpoint while armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives. “You can always find fault,” he said, “but those guys did a good job last night.” The interview turned sharply confrontational when O’Donnell referenced inflammatory claims from the suspect’s writings. Trump immediately pushed back, interrupting and accusing the network of amplifying false allegations. “I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody … I’m not a pedophile,” Trump said.  “You’re a disgrace,” he added, directly addressing O’Donnell. “You shouldn’t be reading that in 60 Minutes.” Trump seized on the moment in his interview with Norah O’Donnell to zoom out from the immediate attack and point to what he described as a broader pattern of political violence tied to the modern left. O’Donnell noted that the room included multiple figures who have either survived or been shaped by political violence, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — whose family has been marked by high-profile assassinations — Erkia Kirk, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who was nearly killed in a 2017 shooting carried out by a leftist gunman. “Well, you go back 20 years, 40 years, 100 years, 200 years, 500 years—it’s always been there,” Trump said. “People are assassinated. People are injured. People are hurt.” .@POTUS on political violence in America: “It’s always been there… I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats—much more so—is very dangerous. I really think it’s very dangerous for the country.” pic.twitter.com/CBrCgDJiJL — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 26, 2026 But the president made clear he believes today’s political climate is uniquely combustible, placing blame squarely on what he described as escalating rhetoric from Democrats. “I do think that the hate speech of the Democrats … is very dangerous for the country,” he said At the same time, Trump struck a more unifying note when describing the immediate aftermath inside the ballroom. “I saw a room that was totally unified,” he said. “In one way, very beautiful,” referencing the shared reaction among politicians, journalists, and attendees during the crisis. Despite the violence, Trump made clear he does not want the annual dinner, hosted by the White House Correspondents’ Association, to be canceled. He said he has already urged organizers to reschedule the event within 30 days, insisting that “we can’t let a crazy person cancel something like this.” Trump did not attend the event during his first presidency and was not present for last year’s edition either, making 2026 the first time attending the event as president. “We’re going to do it again,” he said. “It’s very important.” WATCH: Trump was heartened by the spirit shown after the shooting, wants the WHCA to run the dinner back soon. NORAH O’DONNELL: I mention that because, again, his m– his motive. You brought this up. He had social media accounts that had anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric.… pic.twitter.com/OQWV8tuFOb — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) April 27, 2026 The president also hinted at future changes, including potentially moving the event to a planned East Wing ballroom at the White House, though that venue is not expected to be completed until 2028. Meanwhile, investigators continue to piece together Allen’s motives, background, and movements leading up to the attack. While authorities believe he intended to target members of the administration broadly rather than a specific individual, many questions remain unanswered. For now, Trump appears focused on projecting resilience—both personally and institutionally—after the latest in a string of threats against him. “These things have always existed,” he said. “But we handled it, and we’re going to move forward.”

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. *** I was in the room at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner when shots rang out and chaos followed. I’m not a journalist. I was invited as a guest of The Daily Wire. I accepted immediately — why wouldn’t I? It’s an experience I’d never had. I had no idea how memorable it would be. I went alone, and as an introvert, the thought of entering a ballroom filled with 2,600 strangers and making small talk filled me with dread. This was small talk on steroids. Still, it felt like a cultural bucket-list moment. I’ve been to the Grammys, several Super Bowls, the MTV Video Music Awards (back when they were a hot ticket), and Coachella many times. These are the kinds of happenings you remember. Why not add this one to the list? I got dressed up, had my makeup done, and headed to the hotel. My Uber couldn’t get close, so I walked the last six blocks in the rain. By the time I arrived, I looked like a drowned rat. Oh well, I thought, no one will be looking at me. Protesters screamed as I approached. “F*ck you!” “Pedophile!” “If you go in there, you’re complicit!” “Free Palestine!”   Credit: Jennifer Sey It was unsettling, but I’ve faced protesters before. I ran inside, showed my ticket, passed purse check and a metal detector, and went straight to the bar for a glass of wine. I found my hosts: Brent Scher, editor in chief of The Daily Wire, and his wife, Cassie. The other guest of The Daily Wire that I’d share a table with was Jessica Reed Kraus of House Inhabit. We laughed about our soaked hair, ruined makeup, and now crooked fake lashes, then made our way to our table in the back of the massive room — true nosebleed seats, perfect for people-watching. Despite my initial anxiety about the event, I was having fun. “There’s Harris Faulkner.” “There’s that media guy. What’s his name? Brian Stelter!”   Credit: Jennifer Sey We took photos and settled in as the energy built. We wondered what a mentalist would actually do on stage, and we wished the organizers had risked a comedian instead of avoiding controversy. Then it happened. Shouting. “Get down! Get under the table!” Three loud pops. Gunshots. I didn’t know if they were in our room. Is this really happening? I dropped under the table, clutching the hand of a woman I’d met barely an hour earlier. We were teary-eyed but not hysterical. Two waitstaff huddled with us. One woman at our table kept her composure, calmly repeating, “You’re okay, you’re okay. Stay down.” Over and over. We watched FBI Director Kash Patel rush past while we stayed low. I never thought I’d experience anything like this. I work in fashion. As the chief marketing officer for Levi’s, I hosted some of the biggest parties there. Our worst fear was someone taking too many party drugs and getting sick. We never worried about gunfire. Yet every major cultural or conservative event I attend now — Turning Point USA’s Young Women’s Leadership Summit, a Moms for Liberty event, and now the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — carries the real risk of leftist violence. I knew it the moment I was under that table. Some deranged leftist believed he was a hero, just like the alleged killer Luigi Mangione. I have a stalker who leaves threatening voicemails. Friends tell me to “be careful,” but what does that mean anymore? If a shooter can get anywhere near the president at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, there’s no safe level of careful. You simply live your life and hope fate is kind. I wasn’t with my husband or even a close friend. I had no idea how close the gunman was. Would he burst into the ballroom and start spraying bullets? I was in the back — perfect collateral damage for someone who views shooting at this president as a heroic act. Eventually Jessica and I decided to run. We slipped out a side door and walked as fast as we could in heels. It was cold. My bad ankle screamed with every step, but adrenaline pushed me forward. We sat down somewhere, sirens blaring, still unsure what had actually happened. We caught an Uber, but police blocked everything. We ended up standing on a corner with other women in evening dresses while National Guard troops pointed guns and shouted. I just wanted out. We eventually slipped around the yellow tape. I left the group and walked alone back to my hotel. Protesters and homeless people yelled at me on the streets, but it barely registered. I finally reached my room, called my husband, and texted my oldest son. I wasn’t in real danger; the gunman never reached the ballroom. But in those terrifying minutes, you don’t know that. You hear shots, huddle under a table with strangers, and wonder whether a tablecloth will be the only thing between you and death. I went to the dinner to celebrate a free press and free speech. Instead, I ended up squeezing the hand of a woman I’d just met, huddled under a table, wrestling with the very real possibility that this might be it for me. I was certain it was a deranged leftist who believes violence is justified when it comes to anything connected to President Donald Trump. And that’s exactly who it appears it was. I gave up my career when I began advocating for open schools during the pandemic because I believe in free speech. I realized under that table that if I had to, I would risk my life for it. *** Jennifer Sey is the CEO of XX-XY Athletics. She is an author, filmmaker, and retired national champion gymnast.

“It was either a tray, or a bullet. I was hoping it was a tray. It wasn’t.” That was President Donald John Trump, 79 years old, four hours of sleep a night, and now three assassination attempts into his presidency, cracking jokes at a press conference less than two hours after a man named Cole Tomas Allen tried to kill him in the lobby of the Washington Hilton Hotel. Two hours. “I like not to think about it. I’m not a basket case. I take it as it is. I do it for the country.” Most of us would still be in shock. Most of us would be wrapped in a blanket somewhere, shivering, phones off, unable to form a coherent sentence. Donald Trump was standing at a podium, flanked by his cabinet and his wife, Melania, taking questions from reporters and already talking about rescheduling the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. “We’ll do it again in the next thirty days, and we’ll do it bigger and better,” he said. “We wanted to stay tonight, and I will tell you I fought like hell to stay.” That is not the behavior of a man who is shaken. That is the behavior of a man who has made peace with the cost of his job, and who’s chosen to pay it anyway. While reporters scrambled for details on the shooter, pundits dissected the manifesto, and the Left predictably declared the whole thing staged, almost no one stopped to sit with the human reality of what we witnessed. A sitting president of the United States nearly lost his life last night, again, and before the night was over, he was already thinking about how to get back to business. He is a walking middle finger to the progressive Leftists who want him dead. Scientists should study this man’s nervous system. Trump addressed it directly at the press conference, returning to a statistic he’s cited before — one that, in the context of last night, hits differently. Race car drivers die on the job at a rate of 0.10%. Bull riders, the same. But the American presidency? 5.8% of presidents have been killed in office. 8% have been shot at. “I’m here to do a job,” Trump said. “It’s part of the job. It’s very dangerous. I cannot imagine that there is any profession that’s more dangerous. But I love the country. I’m very proud. I’m very proud of the job we’ve done … I wanna live because I wanna make this country great.” That right there is what allows our president to keep going. His love for our country. And that right there is a man who has stared down at his own mortality — repeatedly — and decided that America is worth more than his own safety. President Trump doesn’t just endure these moments. He refuses to let them change him. After the chaos settled, the president personally called members of the press — the same legacy media that has spent years fomenting the very environment that enabled these assassination attempts — to ask if they were okay. Not his team. Not his donors. The journalists who have made his life a living hell. Worst fascist ever, checking in on those who hate him most. We are dangerously close to taking his resilience for granted. Because he handles it so well, so consistently, we forget what “it” actually is. This is a man who took a bullet to the ear in Butler, Pennsylvania, raised his fist in the air with blood streaming down his face, and said fight. This is a man who has now survived multiple attempts on his life and has not once — not for a single moment — considered quitting. Nothing and no one is deterring him from delivering for our nation. He easily could have given up on us. No one would have blamed him. The man has built a legacy, raised a family, lived 10 lifetimes. He didn’t have to come back. He didn’t have to run again. He didn’t have to walk into a room knowing that some percentage of the people in it might want him dead. He came back because he loves this country. It is that simple. It is that extraordinary. Most generations get one president who genuinely believes the job is a calling rather than a career. We have ours. And he is showing up — still, again, always, despite the fact that showing up means dodging literal bullets. He is the greatest president my generation has ever seen, and I’ll be damned if we let the Left take him out, as they did to Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. President Trump, I don’t know how you’re doing it. Maybe it’s the Diet Coke. Maybe it’s spite. Maybe it’s just that you love this country and her people more than you fear what they might do to you. But we see you. And we thank you. Fight, fight, fight.

In the immediate aftermath of the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner — an incident that forced the evacuation of President Donald Trump and underscored once again the real-world consequences of escalated political rhetoric — a Wisconsin brewery owner and former Democratic candidate sparked outrage by publicly rooting for the president’s assassination. Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Company and founder of the affiliated Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC, sparked outrage after posting online that he was disappointed Trump survived a recent attempt on his life. “Well, we almost got #freebeerday,” Bangstad wrote. “Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.” HOLY CR*P

The man who opened fire at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner Saturday has a journalist sister, The Daily Wire has learned. Cole Thomas Allen, 31, charged a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton Hotel but was apprehended by authorities before breacking the ballroom. His sister, Avriana F. Allen, has worked at leftist news outlets the Texas Tribune, CalMatters, and the Pew Research Center. At Northwestern University, she was involved with the Knight Lab and the publication North by Northwestern. A bio she published for herself on GitHub, a coding platform, says “I have a Bachelor of Science from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University where I double-majored in journalism and statistics.” It says she worked as a web developer for CalMatters since 2021, “making it easier for millions of Californians to be informed about the policies and politics of their state.” She posted to LinkedIn that she was laid off for budgetary reasons. She recently began working at the Pew Research Center as “Junior Tooling and Support Engineer.” Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reported that the Secret Service interviewed Avriana at her home in Rockville, Maryland, on Sunday, and she told agents that her brother often made “radical statements” and referenced a plan to do “something.” She said he was part of a No Kings rally and a group called the Wide Awakes. Fox reported that Allen sent his family members what seems to be a manifesto, and that his brother reported it to police. His brother, Gabriel, lives in New London, Connecticut. Pew Research Center did not immediately return a request from The Daily Wire on whether Pew had journalists in attendance at the correspondents’ dinner and whether there is any suspected connection between Cole’s attack and Avriana’s work. According to public records reviewed by The Daily Wire, Cole Allen’s father is Thomas Allen, an elder at the Grace United Reformed Church in California. The church has deleted its leadership page from the internet. According to the New York Post, Cole left a manifesto that said his aim was to kill Trump administration officials, laying out his reasoning in Christian terms.