The would-be assassin who tried to gun down President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner accidentally landed one undeniable truth amid his unhinged anti-Trump tirade: the security surrounding the event was, once again, dangerously, almost criminally, lax.
Cole Allen, the 31-year-old California teacher charged in the April 25 shooting at the Washington Hilton, sent a manifesto to family members just minutes before opening fire. In it, he dubbed himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and vented raw hatred at the Trump administration. Yet buried in the rant was a crystal-clear observation about the event’s pathetic protection for the President, Vice President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson, and the rest of the presidential line of succession all gathered in one room.
The assassin’s own words on security laid it bare. “Security at the event is all outside, focused on protestors and current arrivals, because apparently no one thought about what happens if someone checks in the day before.”
From the alleged wannabee shooter's manifesto, about how lax the security was inside the hotel because he had checked in the day before. https://t.co/9ieBiLAay3 pic.twitter.com/sAZc8uX1lM
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) April 26, 2026
“Like, if I was an Iranian agent, instead of an American citizen, I could have brought a damn Ma Deuce in here and no one would have noticed shit,” he also wrote, adding “I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”
“I had instead expected security cameras at every bend, bugged hotel rooms, armed agents every 10 feet, metal detectors out the wazoo,” he also remarked.
He wasn’t alone in noticing. Multiple high-profile attendees at the glitzy dinner confirmed the exact same failures.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin reported: “Hypothetically, If I had hidden an explosive in my shoe or my jacket, I would have had no problem getting into” multiple of the Hilton’s ballrooms. He added, “The first exterior security for me was on the street outside of the hotel. I flashed my ticket and was waved through in one second. My name was not checked against any list, I showed no ID, I was not patted down and did not go through a metal detector.” From there, “I walked into the hotel with no further security check… Still did not go through any security at that point.” And finally: “Secret Service reacted quickly to an active armed threat and prevented that threat from getting into the ballroom. But the security leading up to that point, in my opinion, appeared to be lacking severely.”
My thoughts on the security at the WHCD last night.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 26, 2026
The first exterior security for me was on the street outside of the hotel. I flashed my ticket and was waved through in one second. My name was not checked against any list, I showed no ID, I was not patted down and did not go…
Kari Lake posted: “Upon entering nobody asked to visibly INSPECT my ticket nor asked for my photo identification. All one had to do was flash what appeared to be a ticket and they were fine with that.”
I can’t believe how lax the security was at the White House correspondents dinner tonight. Upon entering nobody asked to visibly INSPECT my ticket nor asked for my photo identification. All one had to do was flash what appeared to be a ticket and they were fine with that. When… pic.twitter.com/sLQjJDCEK1
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) April 26, 2026
Security seemed lax and I mentioned this to my guest as we walked in(but this is a public hotel) but law enforcement did a supreme job of stopping him…
— Greta Van Susteren (@greta) April 26, 2026
Fox News Radio podcast host Kennedy echoed: “Having been to this event several times as early as 1995, this was probably the least security I’ve encountered.”
We changed hotels at the last minute yesterday, and booked a room at the Hilton at 3p.
— Kennedy (@KennedyNation) April 26, 2026
I was never asked for a key, but could’ve produced one from a different city. Also never asked for ID, and waltzed through the lobby and lower ballroom areas like I owned the place.
Only saw… https://t.co/AsyWZtL0NH
my best friend and i went to the WHCD, and we ended up leaving early because something felt off
— mads campbell (@martyrdison) April 26, 2026
it started the second we got there. every event we’ve ever been to, especially at this level, there are layers of security. bags checked, IDs checked, actual process
this time,…
Reese Gorman noted: “There were 0 magnetometer or security checkpoints prior to entering the Washington Hilton. All you needed to do to get in was flash a ticket or a screenshot of an email, there was no actual inspection of what you showed anyone… You didn’t reach your first and only security checkpoint until you went down the escalator and were right outside the ballroom. No ID’s were checked.”
I was talking with a GOP lawmaker at the WHCD last night right after the shooting who was appalled at the lack of security entering the Washington Hilton.
— Reese Gorman (@reesejgorman) April 26, 2026
There were 0 magnetometer or security checkpoints prior to entering the Washington Hilton. All you needed to do to get in…
I was in attendance and this is spot on; I made a comment to a friend while walking in how lax the security felt, given that POTUS, Cabinet, senior staff and other VIPs were in the building.
— Sam Markstein (@Sam_Markstein) April 26, 2026
No mags, no bag checks at all except downstairs outside the main ballroom.
Even MSNBC’s Yashar Ali warned: “Top figures in the presidential line of succession were all gathered in the same room last night with this sort of lax security… God forbid this had been a highly organized attack by a group of people, we could have Chuck Grassley as President of the United States right now.”
Top figures in the presidential line of succession were all gathered in the same room last night with this sort of lax security.
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) April 26, 2026
God forbid this had been a highly organized attack by a group of people, we could have Chuck Grassley as President of the United States right now. https://t.co/yfH4bvmxka
The Press are starting to note how weirdly lax security was this year compared to others. https://t.co/qHxKE9kH2D
— Adam Cochran (adamscochran.eth) (@adamscochran) April 26, 2026
Why is the security still this bad?
This is the third assassination attempt on President Trump in recent years. Americans watched in horror as gunmen targeted him twice before, and Charlie Kirk was murdered in cold blood. Yet here we are again: a public hotel ballroom packed with the Commander-in-Chief and his top successors protected by what amounted to a flash-a-ticket-and-walk-in system.
President Trump himself has so far declined to hammer the Secret Service over the obvious lapses. He has praised law enforcement’s rapid response once the shooting started, but has not demanded the sweeping accountability the agency desperately needs after repeated failures.
Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino broke it down on Fox & Friends, explaining the flawed “box within a box” model currently in use. “The way the current security around the president operates, it’s in a kind of like a box within a box approach… where the restrictions are tighter as you get within arm’s reach of the president. You even have a program called an arm’s reach program, where there’s a different level of vetting.” He asked the key question: “Was the security perimeter compressed too far inside? I think they’ll, in the autopsy afterwards, they’re going to have to go over that and see in the future how much farther they want to push that out.”
SECURITY SHAKEUP: @dbongino dissects the "box within a box" strategy protecting President Trump, warning that "access control" is no substitute for true security.
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) April 26, 2026
"The way the current security around the president operates, it's in a kind of like a box within a box approach.… pic.twitter.com/VrBZ2KYsnI
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche tried to spin it as a “massive security success story,” claiming the shooter “barely got past the perimeter” and was “immediately subdued.” Secret Service Director Sean Curran echoed the line, saying the quick apprehension “shows that our multi-layered protection works.”
But many are not buying it. Attendees walked through the same lax setup. Journalists documented it live. The assassin himself laughed about it in his manifesto. And this comes after a pattern of near-misses that should have forced total overhaul.
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Checking IDs is racist.