Press gala shooting suspect pleads not guilty to trying to kill Trump

Chris Strohm, Bloomberg News on May 11, 2026

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WASHINGTON — The man accused of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump at a Washington hotel gala last month pleaded not guilty during a hearing in federal court Monday.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, has been charged with attempted assassination and gun offenses following a shootout April 25 with Secret Service agents at the hotel where Trump was attending the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner. A magistrate judge ordered him to remain locked up while the criminal case proceeds.

Allen was wearing an orange jumpsuit and appeared calm during the proceeding.

Allen was arrested outside the Washington Hilton ballroom after he tried to charge through a security checkpoint with a shotgun and a pistol, authorities alleged. Several shots were fired, and a Secret Service agent was hit in the chest, though he was wearing protective vest, the government said. Allen wasn’t shot, but suffered minor injuries, prosecutors said.

According to charging documents, Allen sent a manifesto to friends and family that prosecutors said outlined a planned attack that involved Trump and other administration officials, although he didn’t name the president. Allen wrote that he felt “awful” but had “experience(d) rage thinking about everything this administration has done,” according to the government.

Allen is seeking to disqualify top Justice Department officials from being involved in his prosecution.

His lawyers have argued that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and District of Columbia U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro should be disqualified because they are potential crime-scene witnesses and have made public comments that are prejudicial to his defense.

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, who is overseeing the case, questioned Allen’s lawyers about why Blanche and Pirro would need to be disqualified. Allen’s lawyer said if they are presented as witnesses they should be disqualified from overseeing the prosecution.

Defense lawyers argued that Allen had no previous record of arrest or conviction. Prosecutors claimed he posed a continuing risk to the public, alleging he’d traveled by train from California armed with guns and knives to carry out the attack.

Court documents revealed Allen followed the president’s movements in real time using a website and live video feeds just before the attack.

Allen faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted of trying to assassinate the president.

The case is U.S. v. Allen, 26-cr-98, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia.

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(With assistance from Zoe Tillman.)