U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on April 30, 2026, in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
President Donald Trump said Thursday at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner on April 25 that he was not worried about another attempt on his life after what prosecutors said was the gunman’s third assassination attempt against him in the past two years.
“I’m not thinking about it,” Trump told reporters at the White House, when asked if he was concerned about another assassination attempt.
“If I had done that, I wouldn’t be here,” the president said.
President Trump also said he does not intend to wear a bulletproof vest, as some have suggested.
“I don’t know if I can handle a 20-pound weight gain,” he joked, drawing laughter from officials and lawmakers in the Oval Office after hearing he signed an executive order creating a new type of retirement account for workers who don’t have access to 401(k)s or other tax-advantaged workplace investment plans.
President Trump’s comments came hours after Cole Thomas Allen, who is accused of attempting to assassinate the president at a press dinner, appeared in federal court in Washington, D.C., for a detention hearing.
Allen said during the hearing that he would not object to being held in jail without bail pending trial, but reserved the right to revisit the issue later.
The 31-year-old California resident, who works as a private tutor, was tackled by Secret Service agents at a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton, above where President Trump and senior administration officials were dining. Prosecutors said Allen was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives.
One Secret Service agent was shot during the confrontation, but his body was hit by a bullet in his protective vest and his injuries were not serious, authorities said.
It is unclear whether the officer was shot and killed by Allen or by a fellow officer. Authorities said the matter is still under investigation.
But President Trump insisted on Thursday: “They said this wasn’t a mutual attack and it wasn’t our fault.”
President Trump narrowly avoided being assassinated by gunman Thomas Crooks at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024.
Crooks was killed by a Secret Service agent before firing, hitting Trump in the right ear, killing audience member Corey Comperatore and seriously injuring two others.
Two months after that incident, on September 15, 2024, a Secret Service agent shot another gunman hiding in the brush surrounding the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The man, Ryan Routh, was sentenced in Florida federal court on September 23 on charges including the attempted assassination of President Trump.
Routh is currently serving a life sentence.
