WASHINGTON, D.C. — A gunman opened fire outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 26, 2026, wounding a Secret Service agent and prompting the evacuation of President Trump and other officials. The White House is weighing new security measures for the president, including a bulletproof vest.

The shots were fired at around 8:34 p.m. as a person armed with multiple weapons stormed a security checkpoint at the hotel and engaged Secret Service agents in a firefight. One agent was struck in his body armor and is expected to recover fully. Several guests at the dinner ducked under their tables during the shooting.

The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen of California, was tackled and arrested at the scene. According to a manifesto Allen sent to his family ten minutes before the attack, he was targeting Trump and other administration officials. Security footage shows a man sprinting through metal detectors and past law enforcement, who then turned toward him with guns raised and swarmed him.

Outside the hotel, protestors raised slogans against the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The dinner is expected to be rescheduled within 30 days.

"Today, we need levels of security that probably nobody has ever seen before," Trump said, calling for tougher security measures after the attack. He said the suspect had been armed with multiple weapons before being stopped by the Secret Service.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau is examining a long gun and shell casings recovered from the scene and interviewing witnesses, and he urged anyone with information to come forward. The FBI's Washington field office is responding to the shooting. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said charges will be filed shortly and that the investigation is ongoing.

Trump has survived two assassination attempts in the years before the April 2026 dinner. On July 13, 2024, gunman Thomas Crooks opened fire on Trump from a rooftop during a campaign stop in Butler, Pennsylvania, grazing the president's ear, killing a firefighter and critically wounding two others. Crooks was killed when security personnel fired back. On September 15, 2024, Ryan Wesley Routh spent 12 hours in a sniper's nest with an SKS assault rifle on the edge of Trump International West Palm Beach golf club while then-candidate Trump was playing golf. Routh was sentenced to life in prison in February 2025.