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On the evening of April 25, 2026, what is widely known as the White House Correspondentsâ Dinner-often dubbed the âNerd Promâ-was disrupted by a major security incident that forced an emergency evacuation of President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and several senior officials gathered at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C. The event had been underway for roughly twenty minutes after the formal entrance of the President and First Lady when an armed individual breached a security checkpoint and attempted to move toward the main ballroom. The suspect, identified by law enforcement as 31-year-old Cole Allen, a teacher and Caltech graduate from Torrance, California, was reportedly carrying a shotgun along with multiple knives. According to officials, the suspect rushed the security perimeter and was intercepted in the hotel lobby before reaching the event space.
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