The Trump administration provided a lower level of security for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner than it has provided for other meetings of high-ranking officials, even though the president and many cabinet members were in attendance, according to officials familiar with the plan.
The president Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were quickly evacuated to safety on Saturday when a gunman stormed the security perimeter and attempted to storm the ballroom at the Hotel Washington Hilton. Others in attendance included House Speaker Mike Johnson, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, writes The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The concentration of senior leaders in a single ballroom left the nation unusually vulnerable, as the would-be assassin slipped past the Secret Service before being apprehended.
The worst-case scenario could have resulted in the transfer of presidential power to the majority party’s longest-serving senator, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who was not present at the event and is third in line to the presidency after Vance and Johnson.
When so many officials gather in one place for official events, such as an inauguration or State of the Nation address, the Secretary of Homeland Security usually designates the Secret Service responsible for coordinating all security through a formal decision known as a “Special National Security Event.”
There was no such decision Saturday night at the event, which was also attended by thousands of journalists and other government officials, according to local and federal officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss security details.
The suspected attacker, 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, wrote a statement in which he said he wanted to target members of the Trump administration and ridiculed what he called lax security at the hotel, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the document. He said Iranian agents could easily have brought more dangerous weapons to the site, according to the text.
The White House referred questions to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for the Washington Hilton hotel said in an email that the Secret Service “conducted security for the event.”
The Secret Service did not respond to questions about its role.
The Secret Service considered the place it was tasked to protect to be the ballroom and the immediate perimeter around it, according to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because there is an ongoing criminal investigation. The agency did not assume responsibility for the entire Hilton hotel.
Outside the city, DC police handled road closures and traffic. Meanwhile, there was no clear accountability for the security of thousands of guests and the rest of the Hilton property, where authorities said the suspect had booked a room.
Acting General Prosecutor Todd Blanche said on Sunday that it did not consider the incident a security failure. The attacker was apprehended before reaching the ballroom.
“On the contrary, it was a massive security success story,” Blanche said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash. “I mean, if you think about what happened, as far as we know right now, this suspect barely breached the perimeter.”
The full range of security measures taken before and during the event was not immediately detailed by authorities. Participants were free to enter the hotel with just a paper or digital ticket, then walk around for hours before going through metal detectors.
Attendees included Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) and Kari Lake, senior adviser to the Agency US for Global Media, they questioned the security at the event. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) called for an investigation.
DC police said that attacker he was armed with a rifle, a pistol and knives. A officer of the Secret Service was hit by a bullet but protected by a bulletproof vest. Blanche said authorities initially believe the suspect fired the shot that struck the officer.
“Although this was extraordinarily dangerous and put many lives at risk,” Blanche said during an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press, “the system worked. We were all safe. President Trump was safe.”
In a statement, Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, said the evening was “a heartbreaking moment for everyone in attendance.”
“Our dinner exists to celebrate the First Amendment and the daily hard work of journalists who defend it,” Jiang wrote. “The WHCA board will meet to assess what happened and determine how to proceed. We will provide updates as they become available.”
Jiang and Steve Thomma, WHCA’s executive director, did not immediately respond to questions about whether there had been any discussion with DHS before the dinner regarding the designation of the event as a National Special Security Event or who was responsible for security outside the immediate perimeter of the ballroom.
The absence of a Special National Security Event designation was most recently under scrutiny for failing to protect the US Capitol during the certification of the results of the presidential election on January 6, 2021. Pro-Trump rioters attacked Capitol Police and stormed the building, forcing lawmakers to evacuate and suspending the certification for hours. The Capitol was eventually evacuated with the help of DC police, federal agents and the National Guard.
In the wake of the events, the January 6 House of Representatives committee, the Government Accountability Office and the Justice Department’s Inspector General recommended designating future election certifications as Special National Security Events. The joint session of Congress on January 6, 2025 was one such event, with the Secret Service in charge.
A government official in Washington, DC, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Special National Security Events tend to be multi-day events with the president and senior cabinet officials regularly attending.
“This is a dinner they might not go to at the last minute and don’t attend annually,” the official said in a text message in response to questions about why the event was not given the highest level of security. “The State of the Nation Address can only be held with the president, the State of the Nation Address has been held many times without the president’s president.”
Trump told reporters after the dinner that the Secret Service and law enforcement did what they were supposed to do.
“I’m the one who would complain,” he said Saturday night. “I’d be here right now saying they didn’t do their job. Oh, believe me, because, you know, it’s my life.”
Armed attack at the dinner attended by Donald Trump
