US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the suspect accused of trying to attack administration officials at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association dinner had an anti-Christian manifesto and "a lot of hatred in his heart" but was stopped well short of the hotel ballroom hosting the event.

Trump told Fox News that the suspect was "a sick guy" and that his family previously expressed concerns about him to law enforcement officials. The suspect, whom an official identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas ⁠Allen, of Torrance, California, was arrested at the scene of the event in Washington, DC.

"When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians," Trump said on Fox News' "Sunday Briefing" program.

The manifesto was sent to Allen's family members shortly before the attack, a law enforcement official told Reuters. In it, the suspect called himself the "Friendly Federal Assassin," the official said.

"Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behaviour; it is complicity in the oppressor's crimes," the manifesto read, according to the official.

Targets listed in the manifesto included administration officials – although not FBI Director Kash Patel – prioritised from highest-ranking to lowest, the official said.

The manifesto mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the dinner was held, the official added.

"Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance," the manifesto's author reportedly wrote. "I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”

The chaotic events raised fresh questions about the security of top US officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel's expansive ballroom. Trump seized on the attention brought by the incident to promote his planned White House ballroom as a safer, more secure alternative for such events.

"While beautiful, it has every highest level security feature there is... there are no rooms sitting on top for unsecured people to pour in, and is inside the gates ⁠of the most secure building in the World, The White House," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The suspect travelled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, checking into the Hilton on Friday, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on multiple Sunday talk shows, adding that Trump and top members of his administration were the likely targets. Train passengers in the United States are not required to pass through airport-style metal detectors.

Officials have said that the suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested.

Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other cabinet officials were rushed out of the dinner as the incident unfolded. The Secret Service agent who was shot escaped serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest, Trump said.

Trump, who had boycotted the media gala in the past, has requested that the dinner be rescheduled within 30 days. White House Correspondents' Association President Weijia Jiang of CBS said the group's board would meet to determine their next steps.

The suspect will be charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, Blanche said, adding he did not know if there was an Iran connection to the attack. Further federal indictments will be coming later, Blanche said.

Around the world, leaders condemned the attack and expressed relief that Trump and all present were safe. Nato leader Mark Rutte called it an attack "on our free and open societies" and leaders stressed violence had no place in a democracy.

A planned US visit by King Charles of Britain scheduled to start on Monday will proceed, Trump and British officials said.

"The King and Queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway tomorrow," a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said ⁠in a statement on Sunday.

Little was immediately known about the alleged shooter's background, but social media posts indicated he had worked at C2 Education, a national private test preparation and tutoring service. C2 Education said in a statement that it was cooperating with law enforcement investigators.

Washington Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.

A White House official said law enforcement officials who interviewed Allen's sister were told he had a tendency to make radical statements, had attended an anti-Trump "No Kings" protest and referred to a plan to do "something" to fix issues with today's world.

Allen had purchased two handguns and a shotgun and stored them at his parents' home, the White House official said.

The suspect lived with his parents in a two-story house on a tree-lined street with picket fences and craftsman-style homes in the historic district of Torrance, a seaside town in the South Bay area of greater Los Angeles.

Neighbours in the middle-class neighbourhood on Sunday said they were only casually acquainted with him and his parents, with most saying they never spoke to him beyond a brief hello or waving to them as they gave Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters. (Reuters)



Edited by Cecil Wong