US President Donald Trump has said that the suspect accused of trying to attack administration officials at a black-tie gala on Saturday night was a “pretty sick guy” who had been flagged to law enforcement by family members.

Trump said in TV interviews on Sunday that the suspect, whom an official identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, of Torrance, California, had posted what Trump described as an “anti-Christian” manifesto.

“He was a Christian, ‌believer, and then he became an anti-Christian, and he had a lot of change,” Trump told CBS‘ “60 Minutes” programme. “He was probably a pretty sick guy.”

In the manifesto, Allen calls himself the “Friendly Federal Assassin” and said he planned to attack Trump administration officials, prioritising them from highest-ranking to lowest but excluding FBI Director Kash Patel, a law enforcement official told Reuters. Allen cited Christian theology as he said he was trying to protect those harmed by the administration’s policies.

“Turning the other cheek when ‘someone else’ is oppressed is not Christian behaviour; it is complicity in the oppressor’s crimes,” the manifesto read, according to the official.

The manifesto, which was sent to members of Allen’s family shortly before the attack, mocked the “insane” lack of security at the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was held, the official added. Allen was arrested at the scene.

“Like, the one thing that I immediately noticed walking into the hotel is the sense of arrogance,” the manifesto’s ⁠author reportedly wrote. “I walk in with multiple weapons and not a single person there considers the possibility that I could be a threat.”

The chaotic events raised fresh questions about the security of top US officials, many of whom were gathered in the hotel’s expansive ballroom. Trump seized on the attention brought by the incident to promote his planned White House ballroom as a safer venue for such events.

“This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The suspect travelled by Amtrak train from Los Angeles to Chicago and then to Washington, checking into the Hilton on Friday, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on multiple Sunday talk shows, adding that Trump and top members of his administration were the likely targets. Train passengers in the United States are not required to pass through airport-style metal detectors.

Amtrak said it is cooperating with the investigation.

Political violence

Officials have said the suspect fired a shotgun at a Secret Service agent at a security checkpoint in the Washington Hilton hotel before being tackled and arrested.

Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet officials were rushed out as the incident unfolded. The Secret Service agent who was shot escaped serious injury because the bullet struck his protective vest, Trump said.

Trump, who had boycotted the media gala in the past, has requested that the dinner be rescheduled within 30 days. White House Correspondents’ Association President Weijia Jiang of CBS said the group’s board would determine ‌their next steps.

The ⁠suspect will be charged in federal court on Monday with assault of a federal officer, discharging a firearm and attempting to kill a federal officer, Blanche said, adding he did not know if there was an Iran connection to the attack. Further federal indictments will be coming later, Blanche said.

Saturday’s incident was another reminder of a rising tide of political violence in the United States in recent years. Conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was shot dead at a rally last September, just months after the June 2025 slaying of Democratic Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband and the wounding of a Minnesota state senator.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll, opens new tab conducted in the days following Kirk’s murder found Americans believe increasingly harsh rhetoric surrounding politics is encouraging violence in the US.

A White House official said law enforcement officials who interviewed Allen’s sister were told he had a tendency to make ⁠radical statements, had attended an anti-Trump “No Kings” protest and referred to a plan to do “something” to fix issues with today’s world.

Trump suggested the protest might have spurred the suspect to action. “Part of the reason you have people like that is you have people doing No Kings,” he told CBS. “I’m not a king.”

Around the world, leaders condemned the attack and expressed relief that Trump and all present were safe.

A planned US visit by King Charles of Britain scheduled to start on Monday will proceed, Trump and British officials said.

Little was immediately known about the alleged shooter’s background, but ⁠social media posts indicated he had worked at C2 Education, a national private test preparation and tutoring service. C2 Education said in a statement that it was cooperating with law enforcement investigators.

Washington Interim Police Chief Jeffery Carroll said the suspect was armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives.

Allen had purchased two handguns and a shotgun and stored them at his parents’ home, the White House official said.

The suspect lived with his parents in a two-story house on a tree-lined street with picket fences and craftsman-style ⁠homes in the historic district of Torrance, a seaside town in the South Bay area of greater Los Angeles.

Neighbours in the middle-class neighbourhood on Sunday said they were only casually acquainted with him and his parents, with most saying they never spoke to him beyond a brief hello or waving to them as they gave Halloween candy to trick-or-treaters.

“He arrived early on Monday morning with the aim of meeting and holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin,” Iranian state news agency IRNA posted on Telegram.

Moscow’s TASS news agency confirmed earlier that Putin plans to meet Araghchi, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Earlier, Araghchi headed to Russia as peace efforts between Tehran and Washington hung in the balance, following a flurry of regional diplomacy and the collapse of planned talks in Pakistan.

Abbas Araghchi visited Oman between trips to Pakistani capital Islamabad and is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin on Monday, according to the Iranian ambassador.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump scrapped a planned trip to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

In a sign that efforts were ongoing, the Fars news agency said Iran had sent “written messages” to the Americans via mediator Pakistan outlining red lines, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz.

Fars said the messages were not part of formal negotiations, however.

US media outlet Axios reported on Sunday that Iran had sent a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage, citing a US official and two other sources with knowledge of the matter.

Iranian state news agency IRNA cited the report without denying it.

A ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran has so far held, but its economic shockwaves continued to reverberate globally.

Iran has sealed off the strait, cutting flows of oil, gas and fertiliser and sending prices soaring, raising fears of food insecurity in developing countries.

Hopes for a second round of talks in Pakistan had centred on a planned visit by Witkoff and Kushner, but Trump cancelled the trip, dismissing it as “sitting around talking about nothing”.

On Sunday, Trump told Fox News that if Iran wanted the talks, “they can come to us, or they can call us.”

Trump faces domestic pressure as fuel prices rise following Iran’s closure of Hormuz, with midterm elections due in November. Polls show the war is unpopular among Americans.

Safe transit

Asked whether cancelling signalled renewed fighting, Trump said: “No, it doesn’t mean that.”

On Saturday, Araghchi met Pakistan’s military chief Asim Munir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, before travelling to Oman and returning to Islamabad.

He later left for Russia for talks with senior officials, his ministry said.

Russian and Iranian state media confirmed Araghchi’s talks with Putin, citing officials from their respective governments.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted Iran’s envoy to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, saying they would meet in St Petersburg, Russia’s second city.

Araghchi himself posted on X that the talks in Oman had focused on ensuring safe transit through Hormuz, “to benefit of all dear neighbours and the world.”

“Our neighbours are our priority,” he added.

Pressure to end the war has intensified as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had no intention of lifting their blockade, which has roiled energy markets.

“Controlling the Strait of Hormuz and maintaining the shadow of its deterrent effects over America and the White House’s supporters in the region is the definitive strategy of Islamic Iran,” the Guards said on their official Telegram channel.

The United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in retaliation.

In a statement carried by state media, Iran’s military warned that continued US “blockading, banditry and piracy” would draw a response.

Israel strikes Lebanon

Israel and Hezbollah traded blame over violations of the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the military was “vigorously” targeting the Iran-backed militia as both sides claimed new attacks.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, with Israel responding with strikes and a ground invasion.

But claims that both sides have breached a 10-day ceasefire agreed earlier this month have continued.

Netanyahu told Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting that Hezbollah’s actions were “dismantling the ceasefire” while Hezbollah said it would respond to Israeli violations and its “continued occupation”.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south on Sunday killed 14 people, including two women and two children, and wounded 37.

The state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes had struck after evacuation warnings in Kfar Tibnit.

An Israeli strike on Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, another of the flagged villages, destroyed a mosque and another religious building, the news agency said.

Israel, which reported a soldier killed in combat in south Lebanon, says it can act against “planned, imminent or ongoing attacks”.

“This means freedom of action not only to respond to attacks…but also to pre-empt immediate threats and even emerging threats,” Netanyahu said.

• Netanyahu plans to lead his party’s list in October elections.
• Opinion polls sees Bennett as best candidate to defeat Netanyahu.
• Bennett supports Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank. 
  

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Sunday he would join forces with former premier Naftali Bennett ahead of this year’s elections, in a move aimed at unseating incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu.

Lapid, himself a former premier, said they would run on a joint list in the parliamentary election due in October, with a formal announcement expected later on Sunday.

In a post on X, Lapid said the pair would “announce today the first step in the process of repairing the State of Israel: the merger of Yesh Atid and ‘Bennett 2026’ into a single party led by former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett”.

“The move brings about the unification of the Repair Bloc, enabling all efforts to be focused on leading Israel toward the necessary repair.”

Both have been outspoken critics of Netanyahu’s handling of the country’s wars since October 2023, with Lapid going so far as to label the recent two-week ceasefire agreed with Iran a “political disaster”.

Right-winger Bennett, a longtime supporter of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and centrist Lapid previously formed a coalition government in June 2021.

It was replaced at the end of 2022 by the current administration led by Netanyahu, after Bennett said in June of that year that his coalition was no longer tenable and Lapid served a brief stint as caretaker prime minister.

Opinion polls suggest Bennett is the candidate best placed to defeat Netanyahu in the October vote.

The 54-year-old son of American immigrants and a former high-tech entrepreneur, Bennett sold his start-up in 2005 for $145 million (110 million euros).

As a former Israeli commando officer, he has a profile that resonates with part of the country’s younger generation after more than two years of the Gaza war.

Once a Netanyahu adviser, Bennett has over time become a staunch opponent of his former mentor’s policies.

He led several right-wing parties before forming a broad unity government in 2021.

His new running mate, 62-year-old Lapid, is the son of the late journalist and minister Tommy Lapid, a Holocaust survivor, and acclaimed author Shulamit Lapid.

A prominent television journalist, Lapid entered politics in 2012 by founding Yesh Atid, which went on to become the country’s second-largest political force.

He has since served as opposition leader, aside from his brief stint as prime minister.

Netanyahu plans to lead his party’s list in the general election that must be held no later than the end of October.

At 76, the leader of the right-wing Likud party is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, with more than 18 cumulative years in office across multiple stints.