While investigations are continuing into the shooting that caused chaos at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night, US president Donald Trump remains adamant the event should be rescheduled and that he will deliver his intended speech.
Trump, first lady Melania Trump and senior cabinet members were taken from the ballroom of the Hilton Hotel after a man later identified as Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old Californian teacher and engineer, attempted to storm the event carrying weapons.
Allen breached the security line at the foyer, above the ballroom, while carrying a shotgun and other weapons but was subdued after secret service and security personnel overpowered him. Shots were heard in the basement-level ballroom, where the dinner ceremony had just begun, causing a hasty evacuation of the president, and senior cabinet officials, while the 2,600 dinner guests crouched in hushed pandemonium at their tables.
One service member was shot during the volley of gunfire but was not seriously injured. Allen remains in custody.
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“We believe that he was targeting administration officials in this attempted attack,” said acting attorney general Todd Blanche on Sunday morning, acknowledging that the targets were “likely including the president”.
Preliminary federal investigations established that the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, had travelled by train from Los Angeles to Washington and checked into the Hilton on Connecticut Avenue a few days before the dinner. He was carrying two firearms purchased in recent years.
With his customary flair and instinct for orchestrating the media narrative, Trump pivoted from the abandoned event to an impromptu press briefing held in the West Wing at 10.30pm on Saturday, two hours after the gunfire. Most of the assembled press corps were still in their formal wear while the president and his cabinet appeared in tuxedos, adding to the surreality of the moment.
During a rare moment of entente cordiale between Trump and the mainstream media outlets covering his presidency, he discussed the dangers of appearing in public. This is the third attempt on his life in less than two years.
“I like not to think about it,” he said. “I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I’m, I think I handle it as well ... as it can be handled.”
But the chaos and shock raised renewed questions about the safety and extent of security measures for the president, his cabinet and all US political figures who engage in public appearances.
“It’s a tragic, horrible event that happened, but on the other hand, it shows that the best and brightest are keeping us safe,” said Blanche.
“Let’s not forget that the suspect didn’t get very far. He barely broke the perimeter and by barely I mean by a few feet.”
The abandoned event also intensifies the spotlight on the relationship between the US media and administrations they cover. The decision to extend an invitation to Trump, on the understanding that there would be no traditional comedian to “roast” the sitting president at this year’s event, generated controversy. Instead, Trump was to deliver the keynote speech and roast the media members.
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The dinner, first held in 1921, is a throwback to an era when the press and politicians they covered fostered a more clubbable environment. Some organisations have a policy of declining to purchase tables. The New York Times has not attended since 2007.
After the incident, Trump was adamant that the dinner should be rescheduled within the next month.
“I am ready, willing and able. And I was all set to really rip it. I said to my people, this would be the most inappropriate speech ever … I’ll have to save it. I don’t know if I can ever be as rough as I was gonna be tonight. I think I’m probably gonna be nice.”
