White House Correspondents’ Dinner suspect to be charged as Trump prepares to welcome king – US politics live

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.The suspected gunman in the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday evening, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, from Torrance, California, is due to appear in court later today.

He is expected to be formally charged with using a firearm during a violent crime and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

“There’s a lot of federal charges that could be in play beyond those two charges but it depends on us understanding his motive, his intent, his premeditation of what led into him deciding he was going to do what he did last night,” acting US attorney general Todd Blanche told CBS News’ Face the Nation programme.

The suspect’s writings – reportedly found in his hotel room – are being examined as part of the investigation into the attack. An alleged manifesto was reported earlier in which the suspect called himself a “Friendly Federal Assassin” and created a list of targets for the shooting, formatted from highest to lowest priority, with Trump administration officials at the top.

Despite the shooting raising security concerns, Buckingham Palace released a statement yesterday evening confirming that King Charles and Queen Camilla are going ahead with their plans to visit the US on Monday.

It is understood there will be some modest adjustments to one or two royal engagements during the trip, but the overall plan remains unchanged, as my colleague Robyn Vinter notes in this story.

The king is due to visit Virginia, ​New York and Washington DC during the four-day trip to mark the 250th ​anniversary of ​US ⁠independence. He will meet Trump privately and will take part in a state banquet held for him and Queen Camilla.