New photos of the would-be assassin of President Donald Trump were released by federal prosecutors Wednesday. And what they show is chilling.
Cole Tomas Allen, dressed in all black with a red tie, is seen smirking at himself in the mirror of his Washington Hilton hotel room. He is armed, fully prepared, and just 30 minutes away from attempting to assassinate Trump.
The selfie, taken at approximately 8:00 p.m. on April 25, was filed by the DOJ as part of a 20-page detention memo arguing Allen should be held without bail ahead of his trial. It shows Allen wearing a shoulder holster, a sheathed knife, a small leather ammunition bag, pliers, and wire cutters.
New photos show the alleged White House Correspondents' Dinner gunman taking a selfie minutes before the feds say he opened fire during the assassination attempt. pic.twitter.com/SEpvtFnzDo
— No Jumper (@nojumper) April 29, 2026
At approximately 8:30 p.m., Allen charged past a Secret Service security checkpoint toward the ballroom where President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and dozens of senior White House officials were seated. Shots were fired in the successful attempt to stop Allen.
On April 6, a month after Trump announced he would attend the dinner, Allen searched “white house correspondents dinner 2026” on his cell phone. Less than two hours later, he received a confirmation email for a two-night stay at the Washington Hilton, prosecutors said.
He bought a one-way Amtrak ticket from Los Angeles to Washington through Chicago and boarded the train April 21. En route, he pulled up a news article titled “Trump’s Plans for ‘Mic-Drop’ Media Confrontation Are Leaked.”
He had also scheduled emails to friends and family to send automatically, timed to go out just before the attack, prosecutors said.
“Had the defendant achieved his intended outcome, he would have brought about one of the darkest days in American history,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant traveled across the country with the explicit aim to kill the President of the United States.”
Allen has been charged with attempted assassination of the president, interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition with intent to commit a felony, and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. His first hearing is scheduled for Thursday.