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The president Donald Trump reaffirmed his determination after being evacuated the previous night from the Annual Correspondents' Dinner, following an armed man opening fire at the entrance of the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington D.C.
“No one will stop me,” declared the president during a press conference at the White House.
The incident occurred on Saturday around 8:36 p.m. when Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old teacher and video game developer residing in Torrance, California, attempted to breach a security checkpoint while carrying a shotgun, a handgun, and several knives.
Allen fired between five and eight shots in the hotel lobby before being subdued and arrested by the Secret Service, which prevented him from accessing the room where the 2,600 attendees of the event were located.
A Secret Service agent was injured, although his bulletproof vest protected him; he was hospitalized as a precaution and his full recovery was expected.
Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and several cabinet members —including Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kash Patel— were evacuated unharmed.
At the press conference, Trump referenced history to contextualize the risks of the position: "It comes with the territory, and if you want to do a great job... look at what has happened to some of our greatest presidents. It doesn't happen to those who do nothing."
The leader also linked the incident to the current geopolitical context, although he ruled out a direct connection: "I don't know if that had anything to do with it, I really don't think so, based on what we know."
Still, he warned: "When you do things like that, you become a target," referring to the military actions ordered against Iran.
In response to a question from Spanish journalist David Alandete, Trump replied with a mix of seriousness and humor: "Nobody told me this job was so dangerous," and joked that if Rubio had warned him about the risks of the position, he might not have run for office.
The Secret Service issued a statement regarding the incident, while Deputy Director Matthew Quinn described the attacker as a "coward."
The FBI director, Kash Patel, praised Trump following the shooting.
Interim Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed that Allen was targeting government officials, possibly including the president, and two sources cited by CBS News indicated that the suspect had expressed a desire to shoot members of the administration.
Minutes after the incident, Trump posted on Truth Social a security video of the suspect and praised the response of law enforcement: "The Secret Service and law enforcement did a fantastic job. They acted quickly and bravely. The shooter has been arrested."
This is the third recorded attack against Trump. The first occurred on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his right ear and an assistant was killed; the second was an attempt on September 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump announced that the Correspondents' Dinner will be rescheduled in about 30 days, and he closed his message with the same determination with which he began: "It’s not going to stop me."
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