A dramatic twist in history. After being the scene of the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in 1981, the Hilton hotel in Washington experienced a new act of gun violence aimed at the presidency of the United States of America, with the shooting that occurred this Saturday night on the sidelines of the annual press gala – an event that Donald Trump had previously refused to attend. Not enough to panic the tenant of the White House, who was nevertheless forcibly evacuated from the stage he was on. “What an evening in Washington,” Donald Trump wrote on his Truth social network, immediately defending law enforcement in general, and the Secret Service in particular. According to him, all their agents did “a great job. They acted with speed and courage.”
It is not yet certain, at the time these lines are written, whether the assailant this Saturday intended to target Donald Trump specifically during this evening, which brought together over 2,000 guests. If so, it would be the third time in less than two years that he has escaped an assassination attempt. Last February, it was within the vast grounds of his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida that a man had entered with a rifle before being shot by police. And everyone remembers the shooting he endured in July 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania, while on the campaign trail. The image of his bleeding ear and raised fist had circulated worldwide.
During his first term (2016-2020), two assassination attempts had targeted him. All this makes him, at nearly 80 years old, the most targeted American president for assassination attempts, despite the heavy history of political violence in the USA, from Lincoln to Kennedy.
The Hilton hotel in Washington is “not particularly secure”
Faced with threats on his life, is the security around the White House tenant sufficient? The measures taken last Saturday before the press gala raise questions up to the main stakeholder. The Hilton hotel in Washington is “not a particularly secure building,” said Donald Trump, who sees this incident as publicity for the grand ballroom he wants to equip the White House with. But the security setup, according to him, was “very secure” since the shooter was stopped before entering the large reception hall where he was.
However, dinner participants indicated that only one metal detection gate had been set up outside the hall, without any similar checks beforehand, nor even at the hotel entrance itself. Even more intriguing, the Hilton hotel had reportedly not been thoroughly searched by law enforcement before the arrival of the American president and several senior officials. The present clients were not even screened, as the presumed assailant had been staying there for several days, precisely to avoid checks and bring in the rifle, handgun, and bladed weapons he was presumably equipped with. These elements do not seem to align with the Secret Service’s requirements, whose agents have extensive powers to ensure the president’s security – which he cannot refuse. And they do not seem to be in line, especially, with the level of threat hovering over Donald Trump.
“They showed exemplary courage”
For the director of the American Secret Service, Sean Curran, the quick apprehension of the suspect nevertheless proves “the effectiveness of our multi-level protection,” according to statements gathered by the Washington Post. “Tonight, we have concretely witnessed the work that our courageous agents accomplish every day,” declared Sean Curran, who was present in Butler. “It’s not an easy thing, and I can tell you that they showed exemplary courage.”
How could an individual heavily armed have found himself in the same building as the President of the United States of America? What were his motivations? These are the main questions facing FBI investigators on Sunday, tasked with the investigations. Tackled to the ground and arrested on the spot, the suspect has been taken into custody and is currently facing two charges: use of a firearm in a violent crime, and assault on a federal agent with a dangerous weapon as one law enforcement member was hit by a projectile that his bulletproof vest stopped. He is set to appear in court on Monday.
