Trump shooting suspect charged with attempted assassination of President at White House Correspondents Dinner
Cole Allen has been charged with attempting to assassinate President Trump after shots were fired at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday night.
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Trump was at the event on Saturday along with Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of Health Robert F Kennedy Jr, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and top aide Stephen Miller.
The annual dinner seeks to celebrate the work of White House press corps and freedom of speech in America.
At Allen's appearance in court, the judge warned that he faces the maximum sentence of life in prison if he is found guilty.
Allen was also charged with discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and the transportation of a firearm and ammunition through interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony.
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The incident saw a gunman, identified by US authorities as 31-year-old Allen, attempt to storm the ballroom at the Washington hotel armed with guns and knives.
Allen is an engineer and tutor from Torrance, California.
He has no prior criminal record and was not previously known to law enforcement.
He has not pleaded to any charge yet.
Speaking after a gunman opened fire while attempting to storm the ballroom at the Washington Hilton, Mr Trump said: “I wasn’t worried, I understand life. We live in a crazy world.”
Describing how he was told to drop to the floor for his own safety, Trump said: “I was walking out… about halfway there, and they said, ‘Please go down to the floor. Please go down to the floor.’ So I dropped to the floor. So did the First Lady.”
“My thought was I’ve been through this a couple of times.”
Allen was arrested after police said he opened fire at a security checkpoint during the event.
One secret service officer was injured after a firearm was discharged, hitting body armour. The individual was taken to hospital but has since been discharged.