Iran peace hopes fade as Trump scraps talks; Strait of Hormuz still largely closed
- US president Donald Trump was rushed from the White House Correspondents’ Association annual gala dinner after at least half a dozen shots were fired inside the Hilton Hotel on Saturday night
- It was confirmed that a single gunman was subdued and taken into custody by Secret Service afterwards
- The suspect, said to have been carrying a shotgun and handgun, has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California
- Meanwhile, Hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the US-Israeli war with Iran receded on Sunday morning
Key reads
- Donald Trump rushed from White House correspondents’ dinner after a gunman fired shots
- Who is Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting?
- Timeline: How the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner unfolded
Von der Leyen expresses solidarity with Trump
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that she spoke with Donald Trump to express solidarity after a man opened fire on security personnel near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
“We underlined that political violence has no place in our democracies,” von der Leyen wrote in a post on social media platform X. – Reuters
Irish journalist Caitríona Perry, chief presenter for BBC News in Washington, has recalled having to take cover under a table after gunshots were heard during the White House correspondents’ dinner – reports Jack White.
“We heard a commotion outside, loud noises, and the doors burst open. There was a kerfuffle of breaking glass and crockery, and tables being knocked over,” she said.
Perry recalled secret service agents rushing up the middle aisle with guns drawn, shouting: “Everyone take cover.”
“Everybody jumped under the tables in the dining room, and the agents kept running towards the podium.
“As you can expect in a room full of journalists, we all had our heads under the table and our hands above with our phones out, recording what was going on,” Perry told RTÉ Radio 1’s Brendan O’Connor show.
“I’m sure some people were terrified because it’s not what you’d expect when you’re in your finery,” she said, though attendees were mostly calm, as the gunshots were muffled, having been fired outside the dining room.
Recalling hearing further gunshots after agents entered the room, Perry said it was unclear how orchestrated the attack was at the time, how many were involved or whether a gunman was inside the room.
Those attending the event were “locked in the room for another period of time”, she said, until the dinner was cancelled as it was deemed an “active crime scene”.
Noting that the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, was a guest in the Hilton Hotel, the former RTÉ anchor said this “added an extra layer to the concern that people had, that this had gotten to that point at an event which had so many members of the [Trump] administration at it”.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was going to make what he called the “most inappropriate speech ever made,” with some disappointment that the event was cut short by the gunman.
Trump is reported to have sought for the event to resume, and later vowed the dinner would be rescheduled for sometime in the next 30 days.
His speech, however, may be rewritten, he said.
“I don’t know if I can ever be as rough as I was going to be tonight. I think I’m going to be probably very nice. I’ll be very boring the next time, but we’re going to have a great event.”