On Saturday evening, a gunman opened fire at the Washington Hilton just minutes after President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and the rest of the dais at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner had taken their seats.
Within seconds of hearing the “pop-pop-pop-pop-pop,” everyone ducked, assuming the absolute worst.
Immediately, people wondered how security could be so lax at an event with the president, vice president, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson.
Not least of which, because there had already been multiple attempts on Trump’s life. Most notably, as he campaigned for re-election, someone shot the then-former president, an event which galvanized his base.
Coincidentally, the shooting took place at the hotel where, on March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot Ronald Reagan.
The president and his allies are now using the incident to make the case for Trump’s proposed ballroom in the East Wing of the White House.
But the shooting reveals that the president has faced unique threats regardless of where he goes. Here’s a breakdown of each of the assassination attempts on the president.
July 13, 2024 – A bullet hits the former president
On July 13, 2024, Trump–then a former president running against Joe Biden to return to the White House–held a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. During the middle of his speech, a gunman would open fire on the rally. A bullet would graze the side of Trump’s right ear. As Secret Service escorted the president off the stage as he bled, Trump would pump his fist and mouth the words “fight. fight. fight.” The moment became a rallying cry for the president’s supporters, coming the weekend before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
It would later be revealed that Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was the young man who opened fire on the rally. He would also kill Corey Comperatore, 50. Crooks used an AR-15-style. The shooting led to heightened scrutiny of the U.S. Secret Service.
A report from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs found that the agency had not communicated with state and local law enforcement and failed to block a line of sight from the roof of the building where Crooks would be found before he was killed. Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle resigned shortly after the shooting.
September 15, 2024–A failed assassination attempt at a golf club
Two months after the shooting in Butler, there was a second attempt on Trump’s life. Police would arrest 58-year-old Ryan Routh for pointing an SKS-style rifle at the president as he hid in the shrubbery of the Trump National Golf Club in Palm Beach. Routh initially supported Trump but later became critical of him. Routh would write a note saying, “Dear World, This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you.”
Routh would later be found guilty on all counts after a 12-day trial. He would reportedly try to stab himself after he was found guilty, which led his daughter to say, “Dad, don’t hurt yourself.” He would later be sentenced to life in prison.
February 22, 2026–A man ‘fixated’ on the Epstein files
In the early hours of Sunday, February 22, 2026, Secret Service agents shot and killed Austin Tucker Martin after he allegedly attempted to break into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Martin reportedly entered Mar-a-Lago’s north gate with a shotgun and a gas canister. Neither the president nor First Lady Melania Trump was on the premises.
Martin came from a family of self-described “big Trump supporters,” as was Martin. But he reportedly became “fixated” on files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender.
“I don’t know if you read up on the Epstein Files, but evil is real and unmistakable,” according to a text obtained by TMZ. “The best people like you and I can do is use what little influence we have. Tell other people about what you hear about the Epstein files and what the government is doing about it. Raise awareness.”
April 25, 2026–A shooting at a celebration for the press
Trump had not attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner since he became president. But in 2026, he, Melania Trump and Vice President JD Vance attended the event at the Washington Hilton. But shortly after the president arrived, a gunman would open fire. Police apprehended 31-year-old Cole Allen of Torrance, California in relation to the shooting.
Allen had allegedly sent out an ardent anti-Trump manifesto and marveled at the lack of security at the Washington Hilton shortly before he opened fire. The shooting led to the room being evacuated and the dinner being cut short.
Trump cuts a unique political profile. He had been a celebrity in the public eye for decades before he entered politics. His use of fiery rhetoric on social media, the campaign trail, and in the Oval Office has led people to form strong opinions and beliefs about him. But it’s also forced long-term questions about how to secure a president when he is out in public.
