According to sources close to the plan, the Trump administration provided a level of security minor for the White House correspondents’ dinner than for other meetings of senior officials, even though the president and many Cabinet members were present. US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance were quickly evacuated to safety on Saturday when a gunman breached the security perimeter and attempted to break into the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel. Also among those attending were the head of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson; the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent; and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
The concentration of senior leaders in the same ballroom left the US in a situation of extreme vulnerability, because the alleged murderer managed to escape from the Secret Service before being arrested. In the worst-case scenario, the presidency could have gone to the majority party’s most senior senator, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who was not present at the event and is third in the presidential line of succession, after Vance and Johnson. When so many officials gather in one place for official events, such as an inauguration or a State of the Union address, the secretary of Homeland Security often tasks the Secret Service with coordinating all security through a formal designation known as a National Special Security Event.
There was no such designation last Saturday night at an event also attended by thousands of journalists and other government employees, according to local and federal officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose security details. The alleged perpetrator of the shooting, Cole Tomas Allen31, wrote a statement in which he said he wanted to attack members of the Administration and ridiculed what he considered poor security at the hotel, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the writing. According to the text, Allen claimed that Iranian agents could have easily brought more dangerous weapons into the site.
Questions were directed to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Washington Hilton indicated by email that the Secret Service “was in charge of security for the event.” The Secret Service did not respond to questions about its role in the matter. A government official
Washington, DC, said it was not aware of any case in which the annual dinner had been designated as a special national security event. Although it is usually attended by senior officials, the list of attendees varies each year.
The executive director of the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), Steve Thomma, also stated in a text message that he was unaware of the existence of such a designation. “It has never been mentioned during my tenure as executive director,” said Thomma, who has held this position with the association since 2017. According to two law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation and who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a pending court case, the Secret Service considered the place to protect was the ballroom and its immediate perimeter.
Outside, Washington DC Police monitored traffic and road closures. Meanwhile, there was no clear responsibility for the safety of the thousands of guests and the rest of the facilities at the Hilton hotel, where authorities said the suspect had reserved a room. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last Sunday that he did not consider the incident a security breach. The attacker was arrested before reaching the ballroom. “On the contrary, it was a resounding success in terms of security,” Blanche declared during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash.
“I mean, if we think about what happened, based on what we know so far, this suspect barely made it past the perimeter.” Authorities did not immediately detail all the security measures taken before and during the event. Attendees could enter the hotel with just a paper or digital ticket, then wander around for hours before passing through metal detectors. Among those in attendance were Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Kari Lake, senior adviser at the U.S. Global Media Agency, who questioned the security of the event. Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., called for an investigation.
In a post on X, Grassley said he was hosting a briefing with the top brass of the Secret Serviceabout “security protocols and police matters related” to the dinner. He thanked the Secret Service for their “quick action” at the scene. The capital’s police reported that the attacker was armed with a shotgun, a pistol and knives. A Secret Service agent was shot, but was protected by a bulletproof vest. Blanche said authorities initially believe the suspect was the one who fired the shot that wounded the officer.
“While this was extraordinarily dangerous and put many lives at risk,” Blanche said during an interview with the program Meet the Press of NBCNews“the system worked. We were all safe. President Trump was safe.” In a statement, WHCA president Weijia Jiang said the evening was “a harrowing time for everyone who attended.” “Our dinner is meant to celebrate the First Amendment and the hard daily work of journalists who defend it,” Jiang wrote. “The WHCA board of directors will meet to evaluate what happened and determine how to proceed.
We will provide updates as soon as they are available.” Jiang and Thomma did not immediately respond to questions about whether any updates had been maintained. conversation with the Department of Homeland Security before the dinner about whether it should be designated as a National Special Security Event or who was responsible for security outside the perimeter of the ballroom. The lack of a National Special Security Event designation came under scrutiny recently, due to the lack of protection of the US Capitol during the certification of the results of the January 6, 2021 presidential election.
Pro-Trump protesters overcame Capitol Police and stormed the building, forcing lawmakers to evacuate and suspend certification for hours. Finally, the Capitol was evacuated with the help of the Washington DC Police, federal agents and the National Guard. Following what happened, the January 6 House committee, the Government Accountability Office and the Department of Justice Inspector General recommended that future election certifications be considered National Special Security Events. The joint session of Congress on January 6, 2025 was one of those events, with the Secret Service in charge.
A government official in Washington, D.C., who was briefed on preparations for the event and who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Special National Security Events are typically multi-day events typically attended by the president and senior Cabinet officials. “This is a dinner you might not attend at the last minute and do not attend annually,” the official said in a text message in response to questions about why the event did not have the highest level of security. “The State of the Union Address can only be held with the president; the House of Representatives Dinner has been held many times without him.”
After dinner, Trump told reporters that the Secret Service and law enforcement did what they should do. “I’m the one who would complain,” he said Saturday night. “I’d be here right now saying you guys didn’t do your job right. Believe me, because, you know, it’s my life.”