Trump Tells Fox News WHCD Shooting Won’t Change Course
“Let’s not let people like this change the course of our country… we’re not going to let that happen. So hopefully you guys can get it on and get it together.”
President Donald Trump is vowing to return to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner (WHCD), pushing back on the notion that the shooting should change the country’s course, while stopping short of blaming organizers and instead pointing to the venue’s inherent security limitations.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday with Jacqui Heinrich, Trump addressed both the aftermath of the attack and what he described as long-standing problems with hosting the event at a large hotel.
Heinrich thanked Trump for attending the dinner and for his immediate response.
JUST NOW: President Trump and @JacquiHeinrich share a heartfelt moment reflecting on the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
HEINRICH: "Thank you for your leadership in the moments afterward and for coming on and giving the country the strength to not let those… pic.twitter.com/IyGIqySQ7Z
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 26, 2026
“We were very grateful to have you there… taking part in a tradition that recognizes the role of a free press in our democracy. And we’re all sad that it went the way that it did… and thank you for your leadership in the moments afterward, and for coming on and giving the country the strength to not let those who would wish to harm us stop us from our pursuit,” Heinrich said.
Trump responded with a defiant promise to return.
“Let’s do it again,” Trump said. “Let’s not let people like this change the course of our country… we’re not going to let that happen. So hopefully you guys can get it on and get it together, and I’ll be there, I promise.”
He then pointed directly to the venue’s structure as a core problem, while carefully avoiding blame.
"It's always tough when you have 1,000 rooms. It's a large hotel right on top," says @POTUS on the White House Correspondents' Dinner venue.
"We’re building a big, beautiful, very, very secure ballroom… You need drone-proofing, you need everything… The location’s on the… pic.twitter.com/612E8y7O5O
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 26, 2026
“It’s always tough when you have 1,000 rooms… people come down in elevators and they’re right over the top of where you’re speaking… it’s pretty tough,” Trump said. “Nobody’s blaming them — they’re good people, very good people. I know the people well. I’ve been in that room many times.”
Trump argued that those risks are exactly why his administration is moving forward with a new ballroom on White House grounds designed for maximum security.
“We’re building a big, beautiful, very, very secure ballroom… with massive bulletproof glass that’s almost four inches thick… you need drone-proofing, you need everything,” Trump said. “The location’s on the White House grounds, which is the most secure ground, probably in the world.”
He added that presidents have wanted such a facility for 150 years, and said the events of Saturday night made the case better than he ever could.
“Presidents have wanted it for 150 years, just because they wanted a big space — but military and Secret Service have wanted it for many years, and I’m getting it built,” Trump said. “The one good thing is that now everybody knows how badly needed it is.”
Trump said the project remains ahead of schedule and on budget, with an original target opening of 2028, meaning future presidents stand to benefit most. “This is mostly for future presidents,” he said. “But hopefully hundreds of years of use.”
Those security concerns were underscored by new details emerging about the suspect. Cole Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, was identified as the man who attempted to breach the event armed with a shotgun, handgun, and knives. A Secret Service officer was struck by gunfire during the confrontation but was protected by his bulletproof vest and was reported to be in good spirits. Allen was apprehended at the scene.
Before the interview aired, Heinrich previewed further details about Allen’s background and motive in a social media post.
NEWS: new info on the WHCD shooting suspect, Cole Allen, from the White House. I'll be talking with President Trump about all of this in 30 minutes on @SundayBriefFNC
The suspect’s written manifesto clearly stated he wanted to target administration officials. He also had a ton…
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) April 26, 2026
“NEWS: new info on the WHCD shooting suspect, Cole Allen, from the White House. I’ll be talking with President Trump about all of this in 30 minutes on @SundayBriefFNC
The suspect’s written manifesto clearly stated he wanted to target administration officials. He also had a ton of anti-Trump and anti-Christian rhetoric on his social media accounts.
ALLEN’s brother had notified New London PD (CT) of ALLEN’s alleged manifesto he had sent to his family members prior to the incident.
Secret Service and Montgomery County Police interviewed Avriana Allen, ALLEN’s sister, at their residence in Rockville, MD. The following highlights from the interview:
•Allen said her brother had a tendency to make radical statements and his rhetoric constantly referenced a plan to do “something” to fix the issues with today’s world.
•Confirmed ALLEN purchased two handguns and a shotgun from Cap Tactical Firearms and kept them stored at their parent’s home and that their parents were unaware that ALLEN was keeping the firearms in the home.
•ALLEN would regularly go to the shooting range to train with his firearms
•ALLEN was part of a group called ‘The Wide Awakes’
•ALLEN attended a ‘No Kings’ protest in California at some point”
The investigation into the shooting and Allen’s background remains ongoing, as federal and local authorities continue to examine both motive and potential warning signs leading up to the attack. Federal charges are expected to be filed.
For Trump, the night’s events only reinforced a message he has long pushed. Saturday gave it new urgency. “The one good thing,” he said, “is that now everybody knows how badly needed it is.”
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
If they have another one, it probably won’t be in the same place.
“”It’s always tough when you have 1,000 rooms. It’s a large hotel right on top,” says @POTUS on the White House Correspondents’ Dinner venue.
“We’re building a big, beautiful, very, very secure ballroom… You need drone-proofing, you need everything…”
Sorry, Donald, didn’t anybody tell you? Milhouse is very specific that you are NOT TO USE the new ballroom for this event! You’ll have to make other plans.
It’s not a state event, so it’s not the sort of thing that would normally be held in a state ballroom. It’s not the president hosting the reporters, it’s them hosting him, so it would be in a venue that they rented. It would be odd if they rented his home to host him.
Actually the official great big beautiful WH ballroom would make the most sense for such an event, ESPECIALLY if you have the President in attendance.
Alaskabob, so the president never sets foot outside the White House again?!
No, that would have been Joe “Brandon” Biden hiding in the White House for much of his term. Trump clearly enjoys talking to the press and the public and this recent unpleasantness won’t slow him down. It is possible a financial and practical arrangement could be made with the new White House ballroom for events like the White House Correspondents Dinner, etc.
It is a SECURITY issue. Going to a D.C. hotel where Reagan got shot to dine with the enemy on non-neutral turf. Ah… come on Mil….. let’s make it the President tolerating the buffoons at the White House. He can them kick them out for being more crass. The WH press is a sort of “state event” anyway.
So the Al Smith dinner will be at the White House too?! And every other event the president is invited to?! The Republican convention?! Campaign events?! You want to turn him into a prisoner in the White House, like the popes before the Lateral Treaty?!
IF the President is in attendance AND a great big beautiful White House Ballroom is available then absolutely thats the best place for it to be. Makes securing the venue a f99k load easier than an external site!
Oops. s/Lateral/Lateran
So let’s summarize:
Perp bought firearms in California, the state pretty much universally credited with having the “toughest gun laws in America.”
Perp executed a “run & gun” assault and (attempted) murder spree on the President and Vice President of the United States, in Washington DC, the city with the “toughest gun laws in America.”*
Gee… maybe gun control is a bullshit “solution…?”
*City rankings show less of a subjective consensus, with some pundits choosing Chicago or NYC… but DC almost universally shows up in the top four.
Valid point
Guy’s known for anti-Christian rhetoric….
(waiting for media to condemn anti-Christian hate/bigotry…. crickets….)
Has the FBI penetrated the group Wide Awakes or are they still chasing after parents politely protesting progressive school board insanity or Christian grandmas?
Hey FBI Socialist/communists BLM/Antifa, you know progressive groups have been at the root of most of the major protests and violence in this country since at the least the 1920s. How about doing your job and working at ending them. If that means the end of the destructive anti-American democratic party than so be it!
Exactly
https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/fred-fleitz-white-house-correspondents-dinner/2026/04/26/id/1254235/
I noticed Hakeem-the-Halfwit Jeffries was doing the “blame the victim” thing almost immediately. My, how his psychotic little Democrat script just keeps reinforcing itself quite nicely, no? Then comes the avalanche of completely expected “it was all staged” social media posts by the usual lefty wrong side of the rock dwellers that went unchallenged by the media slime. Any stupid AI bot could write this plot over and over again, and it’s becoming tediously dangerous.
As has been pointed out by others, if the real targets were any of the journalists going to an event with the Secret Service around is adding a 10x to the degree of difficulty, Trump and his team present were clearly the targets. I suspect the attacker will soon have a room waiting for him in Colorado…