Trump’s security faces scrutiny over press dinner shooting

United States (US) law enforcement officials are reviewing security arrangements after a gunman opened fire near the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington on Saturday night, where President Donald Trump, cabinet members and lawmakers were in attendance, raising concerns about how the suspect got so close to the venue.

Two former Secret Service agents and three senior U.S. officials told Reuters on Sunday that federal agents appeared to carry out their plan ‌to protect the president effectively, stopping the alleged gunman before he reached the basement level of the Washington Hilton, where Trump was set to speak.

However, some attendees reportedly heard shots fired at a Secret Service agent, highlighting possible gaps in security despite tighter measures introduced after two assassination attempts against Trump during the 2024 campaign.

Officials said one key takeaway is the need to expand the protective perimeter around the president at large public venues, even if it causes inconvenience.

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Some noted that security at Trump’s rallies is typically more extensive than what was in place at the dinner.

At the event, guests passed through magnetometers to access the ballroom but only needed a ticket to enter the hotel.

A person with direct knowledge of the planning said several people attempted to gain entry using last year’s ticket.

Authorities said the suspect, a California man, may have bypassed initial checks by checking into the hotel days before the event, allowing him to move within the premises.

Bill Gage, who served on the Secret Service’s Counter Assault Team for six years and is now executive protection director for the SafeHaven Security Group, said reviews will likely examine whether magnetometers should be placed farther from the main venue to widen the outer security perimeter.

The Secret Service, Gage said, “is going to have to find a way to better secure large hotels that may inconvenience the hotel goers and the hotel.”

He also said better coordination would be needed when evacuating top officials.

Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Marshals and the Diplomatic Security Service, escorted attendees out after the shooting, underscoring the challenges of managing protection across different teams.

A Reuters analysis found Trump was removed from the stage just over 30 seconds after the last shots were fired.

In contrast, it took at least 100 seconds for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to exit, and about 150 seconds for Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to leave.

Don Mihalek, a former senior Secret Service agent familiar with the venue, said the Washington Hilton has long posed security challenges due to its size.

“I’m sure the service is going to go back and re-look at the set-up there, and probably push out the perimeter some more now, because of what happened,” Mihalek said.

Trump, speaking at an impromptu news conference later that night, described the Washington Hilton as “not ⁠a particularly secure building.”

According to Reuters, the incident has drawn renewed attention to security planning following a July 2024 assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman was able to get a clear line of sight and graze Trump’s ear.

In a written manifesto first reported by the New York Post, the California suspect criticized what he described as weak security measures.

“Like, I expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo,” the California man wrote.

“What I got (who knows, maybe they’re pranking me!) is nothing.”

The shooting has also prompted political reactions, with some conservative figures, including acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, arguing the incident supports plans to build a ballroom within White House grounds.

A federal judge had blocked the project in March over lack of congressional approval, though an appeals court later paused that decision.

One U.S. official said a broader review of security for the president and cabinet members is expected, while another noted that protections for some officials had already been increased earlier this year following the start of the Iran war in February.

(Reuters)