WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters): US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the suspect accused of trying to attack administration officials at a black-tie gala on Saturday night was a "pretty sick guy" who had been flagged to law enforcement by family members.
Trump said in TV interviews that the suspect, whom an official identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, had posted what Trump described as an "anti-Christian" manifesto.
"He was a Christian, believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lot of change," Trump told CBS' "60 Minutes" programme. "He was probably a pretty sick guy."
In the manifesto, Allen calls himself the "Friendly Federal Assassin" and said he planned to attack Trump administration officials, prioritising them from highest-ranking to lowest but excluding FBI Director Kash Patel, a law enforcement official said. Allen cited Christian theology as he said he was trying to protect those harmed by the administration's policies.
The manifesto, which was sent to members of Allen's family shortly before the attack, mocked the "insane" lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents' Association dinner was held, the official added. Allen was arrested at the scene.
"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 venue for such events.
"This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The suspect traveled by Amtrak 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.
Amtrak said it is cooperating with the investigation.
After the dinner abruptly dispersed, Trump's initial remarks at the White House were conciliatory.
"In light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts and resolve our differences peacefully," said the president. In the past he has defended and ultimately pardoned the rioters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, seeking to overturn Trump's electoral loss to Joe Biden.
On Saturday night, Trump soon returned to talking about himself -- and numbering himself among the finest US presidents. He compared himself to Abraham Lincoln.
