Trump White House shooting live: Suspect to appear in court today after president denies ‘pedophile’ allegation in manifesto

The president of the United States, his conservative allies, and even a Senate Democrat have pressed the case for his $400 million East Wing ballroom construction in the hours after a shooting at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner left nearly the entire cabinet and D.C. press corps ducking for cover minutes into the event.

For months, the construction of Trump’s desired White House ballroom has made headlines and even seemed to consume the president’s attention during unrelated events, where Trump will often go on diatribes about the construction process or building plans. A federal judge halted the project earlier this month, while allowing construction of a secure bunker on the White House complex to continue.

Trump had the residence’s iconic East Wing demolished without warning to make room for the structure.

But Saturday evening’s chaos added a new twinge of urgency to the president’s statements and elicited a wave of new calls for the event space’s construction on the White House’s grounds from supporters of the president, many of whom had previously ignored or shied away from defending what Democrats call a grift-filled vanity project.

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C, has said the suspect will be charged on two counts: use of a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

Pirro said that the defendant would be arraigned Monday in federal court at 1 p.m. local time.

He is currently being held in a police jail cell around half-a-mile from the Washington Hilton.

If convicted of both counts, he faces up to 15 years in prison.

Here’s a full report on everything we know about Allen from Mike Bedigan and Paul Farrell.

Here’s Maira Butt with a minute-by-minute timeline detailing precisely how Saturday night’s shocking events played out.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered his support for ⁠US president Donald Trump in a phone call following a ⁠shooting ​at the ⁠White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, ⁠the Turkish presidency ​said late ⁠on Sunday.

“Erdogan ‌said he saw the incident ‌as a heinous ‌act against democracy and press freedom,” the ⁠presidency said in a statement on X.

Earlier, Erdogan had condemned the incident in a separate statement ‌on X, ​saying he ‌was happy ⁠that Trump and ⁠first lady Melania Trump ‌were ​unharmed.

US president Donald Trump lashed out at CBS News yesterday, calling it “disgraceful” for quoting from the suspect’s manifesto on 60 Minutes on Sunday.

Shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-old from Torrance, California, is alleged to have sent an anti-Trump manifesto to his family members moments before the shooting, calling himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin”.

“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” the letter read.

Trump took issue with the CBS News interviewer for bringing up the manifesto, before declaring: “I’m not a pedophile” and “I’m not a rapist”.

The shooting at the security barricades happened minutes after the event got underway.The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the room as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds.

Gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists immediately got on phones to call in information.

“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage.

Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.After an initial attempt to resume the event, it was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.

Donald Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.

“It’s always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” Trump told reporters in a hastily organized news conference at the White House late on Saturday.