
Who is the suspected Washington dinner gunman?
From What in the World by BBC World Service
April 27, 2026 · 9 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the gunman who attempted to enter the White House Correspondents' Dinner and the details surrounding him.
The White House Correspondents' Dinner is a swanky event - the famous journalists and politicians that go are all dressed in their best tuxes and gowns. Donald Trump and his wife Melania were sat on the very long top table. But on Saturday night’s event, a gunman tried to get into the ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel. He was stopped by officials after an exchange of gunfire and since then more details have been coming out about who he is. Who is Cole Tomas Allen? And how did he get into the hotel? That’s what we’re going to get into today. There’s also been loads of chat about a manifesto that has been linked to the suspect. President Trump has been speaking about it in that interview with CBS’s Norah O’Donnell. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Emily Horler, Benita Barden and Ash Mohamed Editor: Verity Wilde
People in this episode
Host: Hannah Gelbart
Topics covered
- Washington dinner
- gunman
- Cole Tomas Allen
- White House Correspondents' Dinner
- manifesto
- Donald Trump
- gunfire incident
Keywords
- Washington Hilton
- gunman
- White House Correspondents' Dinner
- Cole Tomas Allen
- manifesto
- Donald Trump
- Norah O’Donnell
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: CBS
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