Social networks have been flooded with conspiracy theories after an attacker managed to evade security forces surveillance during the annual White House correspondents' dinner held on April 25 in Washington. According to these theories, the attack would have been orchestrated to restore popularity to Donald Trump, whose popularity is at a minimum in the polls ahead of the midterm elections.

First modification: 04/28/2026 - 01:04 Last modification: 04/28/2026 - 01:17

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A few shots and then, silence. Cole Thomas Allen, 31, was arrested on Saturday, April 25, after circumventing security checks at the Hilton hotel, where the traditional White House correspondents' dinner was being held, attended by, among others, US President Donald Trump.

The latter, as soon as the danger was detected, was quickly surrounded by Secret Service agents in charge of his security. In the images from the hotel's surveillance cameras, an armed man is seen evading the custody of the agents stationed in a security arch, before pounced on the guests. Balance: a slight injury.

As tradition dictates, the tenant of the White House had decided this year to play the game of "roasting", which consists of making fun of the personalities present.

Donald Trump, whose relations with the press have always been conflictive since his entry into politics, had refused to participate in his first term and did not attend last year either. A great first marred by an incident that spread panic and cut short the festivities.

The video soon spread on social networks, fueling the eternal conspiracy theories that the American president sometimes tries to take advantage of.

By midday on Sunday, the word "staged" appeared more than 300,000 times on the X network, according to The New York Times, which cited data from the analysis company TweetBinder.

Donald Trump is one of the few American presidents who has been the target of several assassination attempts. But, fair enough, Saturday night's incident occurs at a time when the Republican is at his lowest point in the polls, against a backdrop of persistent inflation and war in the Middle East.

The Butler Precedent

"His popularity rating is so low that he had to invent another assassination attempt to get out of the correspondents' dinner unscathed," wrote a user on X, garnering 42,000 likes.

This rejection is shared by former members of the MAGA sphere who have recently distanced themselves from Trump, even going so far as to question the veracity of the attempted assassination of Butler (Pennsylvania), in July 2024, suggesting that the candidate's superficial wound was nothing more than a hoax.

Now skeptics consider that a gunshot could not heal so quickly, even despite the conclusions of the FBI, which established in July 2024 that the president's ear had indeed been hit by "a bullet, whole or fragmented."

Podcaster Joe Rogan and former 'Fox News' host Tucker Carlson, who at the time were among Trump's most fervent supporters, both called Butler's attack a "hoax" aimed at helping the Republican win the November 2024 election.

Former MAGA icon Marjorie Taylor Greene added fuel to the fire, going so far as to describe the event as a "montage."

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Even more disturbing, in the eyes of those who see it as a trap, is the reaction of the White House spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, who, shortly before the incident last Saturday, had announced on 'Fox News' that Donald Trump was "very enthusiastic" and that his speech would be "the classic Donald J. Trump."

"There will be some shots fired tonight in the room," in the original version, he had added, "so everyone should be connected, it's going to be great."

An argument in favor of the ballroom?

The prophetic nature of this statement was not lost on many social media users, seeing it as an "incredible coincidence," although the "shots" probably referred to the verbal disputes characteristic of the annual "roasting."

Other commentators interpreted it as a joke intended to promote the controversial reception room Trump is currently building in the White House.

"This would never have happened to the militarized ballroom currently being built in the White House," the interested party himself was quick to declare on the Truth Social network.

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This gives ammunition to his supporters, starting with Florida Republican Rep. Randy Fine, who warned that "no one has reason to complain about their White House ballroom anymore." Former 'Fox News' host Meghan McCain and several far-right TikTok accounts have the same opinion.

Other theories have focused on flaws in security protocol, which would have allowed a man in possession of several firearms and various knives to get so close to guests, taking into account the Butler precedent.

"Gunshots are heard, the Secret Service arrives and they don't evacuate Trump immediately," one X user is surprised. Another points out that Vice President J.D. Vance was evacuated before Trump, a violation of Secret Service protocol.

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"Insane incompetence"

Even the main suspect himself was surprised at the ease with which he was able to access the premises. In a manifesto that he would have sent to his relatives, and that the 'New York Times' obtained through a source close to the case, Cole Thomas Allen thus describes the "insane" lack of security measures at the Hilton hotel in Washington, according to an official cited by Reuters.

Irony of history, it was precisely in front of that same hotel where Ronald Reagan was the victim of an assassination attempt in 1981.

"The first thing I noticed when entering the hotel was this feeling of arrogance. He was carrying several firearms and no one even considered that this could pose a danger," he writes.

The attacker's manifesto, published by the 'New York Post', presents its author as a "friendly federal assassin" and explains that his target was members of the Trump Administration, with the exception of Kash Patel, director of the FBI.

"Why did I do it? I am a citizen of the United States. What my political representatives do affects me. And I can no longer accept that a pedophile, thief and traitor stains my hands with his crimes," he adds.

Cole Thomas Allen also evokes Christian principles, considering that he acts on behalf of those whom the Trump administration oppresses. "Turning the other cheek when someone else is being oppressed is not Christian behavior: it is complicity in the crimes of the oppressor."

Donald Trump has requested that a new date be set for the correspondents' dinner within 30 days. Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, which organizes this annual gala, has indicated, for her part, that the board of directors will decide if and when the event is held.

Adapted from its original English version

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