The incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner saw the US President, who had been the previous target of an assassination attempt, swiftly evacuated by Secret Service agents along with other senior members of the administration. The state visit is believed to still be going ahead with upped security measures, which will be discussed further today. The King is said to be “greatly relieved” that the US President, the First Lady and other guests at the media dinner were unharmed.
Charles and Camilla are understood to have reached out privately to the president and his wife, Melania, to express their sympathies with all those affected on the night and their gratitude to the security services for preventing further injury.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty is being kept fully informed of developments and is greatly relieved to hear that the President, First Lady and all guests have been unharmed.
“As you would expect, a number of discussions will be taking place throughout the day to discuss with US colleagues and our respective teams to what degree the events of Saturday evening may or may not impact on the operational planning for the visit.”
But royal sources have claimed the late Queen would have a different approach to the state visit, which has been clouded by controversy, following Mr Trump’s war on Iran.
A source who worked closely with the late monarch told the Sunday Times: “I can’t help but think QEII would have had the government pull the plug on this state visit ages ago.
“I’m sure the King wants to tick a historic U.S. state visit off his bucket list. It just seems a shame it has to be under these conditions and timing.”
Following Saturday’s incident, one officer, who was shot but protected by his bulletproof vest, was taken to hospital.
The suspect, said to have been carrying a shotgun and handgun, has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.
He is understood to have been a guest in the Washington Hilton hotel where the event was being held and faces charges including assaulting an officer with a dangerous weapon, but acting attorney general Todd Blanche said additional charges will be filed.
Mr Trump posted pictures on his Truth Social platform of the alleged assailant handcuffed on the ground following his detention and promised to reschedule the disrupted event.
He said: “My impression is he was a lone wolf whack job. These are crazy people.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
