Suspect of shooting at a gala where Donald Trump was present appears in court

Blanche added that no other motive for the attack is known, and confirmed that the suspect – who according to authorities was armed with a shotgun, a pistol and a knife – was staying at the Washington Hilton where the White House Correspondents’ Association gala dinner was held.

Without providing details, Trump indicated that the suspect had written an “anti-Christian” manifesto.

“The guy is sick,” Trump told Fox News. “His sister or brother were actually complaining about it. They were even filing complaints with the authorities.”

The New York Post reported that the suspect wrote in a message he shared with his family shortly before the attack that his targets would be “prioritized from highest to lowest rank.”

At the gala dinner were Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, several Cabinet members and prominent lawmakers, as well as hundreds of guests.

Trump said at an impromptu late-night news conference at the White House that he initially thought the noise was a dropping tray, before realizing it was gunshots.

“They seem to think he acted like a lone wolf, and I feel that way too,” the president said.

One officer was shot at close range in his bulletproof vest and appeared not to have been seriously injured.

Trump added that the hotel was not “a particularly secure facility,” as questions mounted about the president’s security protocols.

Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024. A gunman fired several shots, killing an attendee and slightly wounding the president in the ear.

A few months later, another man was arrested after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking out of the bushes around the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was.

The Washington Hilton, where Saturday’s gala was held, is the place where Republican President Ronald Reagan was attacked in 1981.

Trump said Sunday that the shooting underscores the security reasons he has given for planning a massive new ballroom next to the White House, a project that has faced legal challenges.

The incident occurred less than 48 hours before King Charles III and Queen Camilla begin a four-day state visit to Washington.