The most recent attempt happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25
Credit: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- President Donald Trump reveals his stance on safety following a third assassination attempt on his life
- During an Oval Office signing ceremony on Thursday, April 30, the 79-year-old said a bulletproof vest might make him look heavier
- The most recent assassination attempt happened with no fatalities at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 25
President Donald Trump is addressing safety protocols following a third assassination attempt on his life.
While speaking to the press during an Oval Office signing ceremony on Thursday, April 30, the president, 79, was asked him if there was discussion about him “potentially wearing a bullet-proof vest moving forward.”
“I don't know if I can handle looking 20 pounds heavier,” Trump, who signed an executive order aimed to expand access to retirement accounts, replied.
Those in the room laughed at the remark.
Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
“If you want to gain 20 to 25 pounds, get a West vest,” he continued, possibly referring to Wilson's MLB West Vest chest protectors for baseball umpires.
A Secret Service agent was shot in the most recent assassination attempt, which happened at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, April 25. Trump was rushed out of the room during the incident. During a press conference after the shooting, Trump credited the agent's bulletproof vest with saving the agent's life.
“Frankly, the vest did an amazing job because it took a bullet close up," Trump said on Thursday. "And he didn't even want to go to the hospital. We sent him to the hospital.”
Trump also compared getting shot while wearing a bulletproof vest as the equivalent of “getting hit by Mike Tyson.”
The U.S. Department of Justice identified Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, Calif., as the suspect.
Allen has since been charged with one count of attempt to assassinate the President of the United States, transportation of a firearm and ammunition in interstate commerce with intent to commit a felony, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Allen will remain in jail ahead of a scheduled detention hearing in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, ABC News, Fox News and CNBC reported.
The first assassination attempt on Trump came when he was campaigning for a second presidential term. He was speaking at his rally in Butler, Pa., on July 13, 2024, when shots rang out. Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, was identified as the shooter.
At the time, Butler County, Pa., District Attorney Richard Goldinger told PEOPLE that Crooks was killed, and at least one spectator at the rally died, with two injured and hospitalized. Goldinger also told PEOPLE that Trump was "grazed" by gunfire at the rally.
Credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty
The second assassination attempt took place at Trump's Florida golf club in September 2024. Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was arrested after fleeing the scene, the Department of Justice previously said.
Prosecutors later said Routh wrote a handwritten letter addressed to “The World,” regarding the shooting at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
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“This was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump but I failed you,” Routh allegedly wrote in the letter. “I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster.”
Routh allegedly went on to offer $150,000 to anyone who could “complete the job.”
Routh was sentenced to life in prison in February 2026.
After Saturday's incident, Trump told reporters he was “honored” to have so many assassination attempts on his life, adding, “They don't go after the ones that don't do much.”
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