First Thing: White House dinner suspect charged with attempted assassination
Alleged shooter, identified as Cole Tomas Allen, faces potential life sentence. Plus, the Americans renouncing their citizenship
Good morning.
The suspect accused of trying to storm the White House correspondents’ dinner was charged on Monday with three federal crimes, including attempting to assassinate the president – a charge that carries a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
The alleged shooter, identified by law enforcement agencies as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, appeared in federal court in a blue jail jumpsuit alongside lawyers with the federal defender’s office. Jocelyn Ballantine, a federal prosecutor, said he was armed with a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a pistol and three knives when he was tackled by law enforcement officers on Saturday night outside the Hilton hotel ballroom where the annual dinner was being held.
-
What was his motive? Investigators have yet to release one. However, to establish the charge of attempted assassination, the affidavit quotes from a part of a manifesto Allen allegedly sent to family members that states: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
-
Was lax security to blame? While many have praised the actions of law enforcement officers in swiftly stopping the attack, Allen’s alleged manifesto mocked an “insane” lack of security at the Washington dinner.
-
What is the Trump administration saying about the attack? Several officials, including the president, have seized on the incident to advance their case for the completion of Trump’s $40m White House ballroom project, with the justice department pressuring a preservation group to drop a lawsuit seeking to halt the construction.
King Charles expected to allude to strained relations between UK and US in rare address to Congress
King Charles is scheduled make a rare to address Congress on Tuesday on the second day of his first state visit to the US since becoming king in 2022. The king and Queen Camilla arrived at the White House on Monday, where they were greeted with handshakes from Donald Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump.
The king is expected to allude to recent strains between the UK and US by underlining that “time and again our two countries have always found ways to come together”.
-
Will there be an Oval Office meeting? Sources told the Guardian that Charles will pose for the cameras at the start of his centerpiece bilateral meeting on Tuesday, but that British officials have pushed for the Oval Office meeting to be held off camera, for fear of a repeat of the scenes when Trump berated the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in front of the world’s press.
-
What challenges does the king face with this visit? Relations between the UK and the US are already tense following Trump’s public criticism of Britain’s refusal to back military action against Iran, but Charles is also meeting Trump under the shadow of Jeffrey Epstein. Charles’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office over his connection with Epstein.
In other news …
-
The Trump administration has fired all 22 members of the currently independent National Science Board that oversees the National Science Foundation.
-
Jimmy Kimmel has defended his Melania Trump joke and refused to apologize after the president and first lady accused him of inciting violence. On his show Monday night he said: “It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination. And they know that.”
-
Florida’s Ron DeSantis has unveiled his proposal for redistricting his state’s congressional maps in the latest act of a nationwide gerrymandering battle for control of Congress.
Stat of the day: Illegal logging has destroyed more than 22,400 acres of ancient forest in Mexico’s Sierra Tarahumara
Illegal logging in Mexico’s Sierra Tarahumara has intensified over the past 15 years as criminal groups, including factions of the Sinaloa cartel, began diversifying their operations. This illegal deforestation has disrupted the region’s hydrological system, which in turn has led to droughts, crop failures and food insecurity.
Culture Pick: Lena Dunham’s Famesick doesn’t always make it easy to feel sorry for her
Lena Dunham’s newest memoir, Famesick, delves into the Girls creator’s experiences with chronic illness as well as the stress in the aftermath of snagging her own HBO series at the age of 24. For the Guardian, Hannah J Davies writes that though at times scattergun and sometimes lacking in self awareness, the memoir is also undeniably frank and exhaustive, a lifetime of therapy condensed into a quick read.
Don’t miss this: The Americans renouncing their citizenship
Since 2014, the numbers of US citizens renouncing their citizenship each year have been in the thousands, hitting a record of 6,705 in 2020. With the Trump administration slashing the fees to renounce citizenship from $2,350 to $450, this year is expected to reach similar heights.
… or this: The trope of the Asian mother
From Amy Chua’s Tiger Mom to Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once, the stereotype of the strict and difficult to please Asian mother has dominated popular culture, in a way that feels both overexposed and underdeveloped, writes Rebecca Liu. What exactly are we looking for when we write about her flaws and failures – and what are we hoping to find?
Climate check: Lebanon accuses Israel of ‘ecocide’
Amid a patchy ceasefire, Lebanon’s minister for the environment has accused Israel’s military of committing “an act of ecocide” in its operations against Hezbollah in the southern region of the country. In just 2023 and 2024, the Israeli military has damaged 12,350 acres of forest cover and destroyed 5,320 acres of orchards, including more than 2,000 acres of olive groves, according to a 106-page report.
Last Thing: Baby on board
A woman unexpectedly went into labor on a cross-country Delta flight traveling from Atlanta to Portland over the weekend. Fortunately, emergency medical technicians Tina Fritz and Caarin Powell were also on board. A healthy, five-and-a-half pound Brielle Renee was born just as the plane touched down.
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
Explore more on these topicsShareReuse this content