U.S. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche (C), FBI Director Kash Patel (2nd R), and U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro (L) hold a news conference at Department of Justice headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 27, 2026. The man accused in the shooting at a media gala attended by President Donald Trump was arraigned in court Monday on charges of trying to assassinate the president and two firearms crimes. Cole Allen, 31, faces a sentence of up to life in prison if convicted of attempting to kill the president on Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington. | ANNABELLE GORDON/AFP via Getty Images

The suspect in the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump and other cabinet officials at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night is facing three federal charges, with more anticipated as the investigation reveals he spent weeks planning the attack.

Top Trump administration officials held a press briefing Monday, providing new details about the shooter, Cole Tomas Allen. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that “Today, the Department of Justice filed three federal charges in United States District Court against Cole Tomas Allen.”

“The first count is attempted assassination of the president of the United States,” he said. “This count is punishable by up to life in prison.”

Blanche identified additional charges as “interstate transportation of a firearm to commit a felony,” which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars, and “discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence,” which is punishable by 10 years to life in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro vowed that “there will be additional charges as this investigation continues to unfold.” She said Allen’s plans to carry out a massacre at the White House Correspondents’ dinner date back to at least April 6, when he made a hotel reservation at the Washington Hilton, which is where the event was held.

Images of the weapons Allen brought were on display at the briefing, which included two guns and at least three knives. Pirro clarified that the suspect bought the weapons in his home state of California.

Blanche provided additional details about what the investigation into the shooting has revealed so far: “The defendant, Allen, made a hotel reservation at the Washington Hilton for April 24-April 26. On April 21 of this year, he traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then from Chicago to Washington, D.C. On April 24, he arrived in Washington, D.C., at approximately 1 p.m. and checked into the Washington Hilton.”

“At 8:40 on the night of April 25, Allen approached a security checkpoint on the terrace level of the hotel, which is … a floor above where the dinner was taking place. He ran through the magnetometer holding a long gun. As he did so, U.S. Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot.”

The gunshot heard by Secret Service agents was fired by Allen at one of the officers, who was hit but survived because he was wearing a “ballistic vest.”

“This heroic officer, who was hit, fired five times at Allen, who was not shot but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested,” Blanche added.

While no member of the Trump administration was injured at the WHCA dinner, the shooting forced the cancellation of the event, which is being rescheduled for May.

A manifesto sent by Allen to members of his family before the shooting reveals his intention to target as many “Administration officials” as possible, excluding FBI Director Kash Patel.

In the manifesto, Allen warned that law enforcement would be shot “if necessary.” He also called Trump a “traitor” and said he was “no longer willing to permit” him to remain president.

Allen also identified himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and signed the document using that name. “Oh, and if anyone is curious [about] how doing something like [this] feels … it’s awful. I want to throw up; I want to cry for all the things I wanted to do and never will,” he wrote.

[H/T The Christian Post]