Trump greets King Charles and Queen Camilla at the White House
King Charles and Queen Camilla just arrived at the White House, where they were greeted by Donald and Melania Trump. The heads of state and their spouses made some brief small talk, which was not audible on the live stream, posed for photographs and then went inside.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla on the day of an afternoon tea at the White House. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Donald and Melania Trump greeted King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the White House on Monday. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP
Donald Trump and King Charles III walked into the White House ahead of their spouses, Melania Trump and Queen Camilla, in Washington on Monday. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.48 EDT
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Criminal complaint accuses Cole Allen of wanting to assassinate president he called ‘a pedophile, rapist, and traitor’
In his interview with 60 Minutes on Sunday, Donald Trump lambasted Norah O’Donnell for asking him to react to the words of the man accused of trying to assassinate him, Cole Allen, who wrote in his manifesto: “I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
After telling the CBS News interviewer that only “horrible people” would ask him about that, the president said: “Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
O’Donnell did a double take and said: “Oh you think- do you think he was referring to you?”
“I’m not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m not a pedophile,” Trump replied. “You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all- stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated. Your friends on the other side of the plate are the ones that were involved with, little’s say, Epstein or other things.”
The president then attacked O’Donnell again, saying “you should be ashamed of yourself reading that because I’m not any of those things.”
Trump was apparently happy enough with his answer to O’Donnell’s question that the exchange was included in a highlight reel from the interview posted on the White House YouTube channel.
Despite the president’s anger at being asked about that apparent description of him, which has become common among his critics amid widespread anger at his long friendship with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the federal government’s criminal complaint against Allen, filed in federal court on Monday, quotes the same part of the manifesto to accuse the suspect of planning to assassinate Trump.
According to the complaint, from an FBI special agent, Allen sent a note to family and friends by email shortly before he attempted to charge into the White House Correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night in Washington, is which he described his motivation as follows:
double quotation markOn to why I did any of this:
I am a citizen of the United States of America.
What my representatives do reflects on me.
And I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.
(Well, to be completely honest, I was no longer willing a long time ago, but this is the first real opportunity I’ve had to do something about it.) While I’m discussing this, I’ll also go over my expected rules of engagement (probably in a terrible format, but I’m not military so too bad.)
Administration officials (not including Mr. Patel): they are targets, prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest
As numerous critics of Trump were quick to point out on social media, the judge in the 2023 civil trial in which Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E Jean Carroll, wrote that the jury did, in fact, find that Trump had raped Carroll, in the way that word is understood in “common modern parlance.”
Updated at 17.29 EDT
King Charles appears to fight Trump to a draw in latest of president’s handshake battles
Video of the handshake between the UK and US heads of state appears to show that Donald Trump did engage in his usual attempt to assert dominance by yanking the hand of King Charles towards himself, as if in a tug of war, but the king appeared ready for the maneuver the president is known for, and quickly pulled his hand back while still maintaining his grip.
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive at the White House
Trump’s aggressive handshake, and how to combat it, has been studied in advance by visiting world leaders and heads of state since his first term, following a playbook created by the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Updated at 16.50 EDT
Trump greets King Charles and Queen Camilla at the White House
King Charles and Queen Camilla just arrived at the White House, where they were greeted by Donald and Melania Trump. The heads of state and their spouses made some brief small talk, which was not audible on the live stream, posed for photographs and then went inside.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump welcomed King Charles and Queen Camilla on the day of an afternoon tea at the White House. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ReutersDonald and Melania Trump greeted King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the White House on Monday. Photograph: Alex Brandon/APDonald Trump and King Charles III walked into the White House ahead of their spouses, Melania Trump and Queen Camilla, in Washington on Monday. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.48 EDT
Press gathers for arrival of King Charles at White House
Reporters are gathering now at the White House to cover the arrival of King Charles and Queen Camilla.
According to a note from the White House pool reporter, the media was “gathering at the Palm Room doors for the King and Queen of the United Kingdom’s arrival”.
The Palm Room is one of the many parts of the White House Donald Trump has put his personal stamp on. This photo from January shows that it now features a photograph of the US president with Vladimir Putin.
Photographs of Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia and another of the US president with one of his grandchildren now hang in the Palm Room of the White House. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/Pool/Kent Nishimura – Pool/CNP/Shutterstock
Live video of the arrival is streaming now at the top of this page.
Updated at 16.47 EDT
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s motorcade is pulling up to the White House, where they are scheduled to meet with Donald Trump.
Charles and Camilla’s motorcade near the White House in Washington DC. Photograph: Matt McClain/Reuters
The royals are set to have tea with the president, and visit an apiary on the White House grounds. The Trump administration has helpfully posted a video of the bees and the honey they produce, which seems perfect for tea:
Surprisingly, all of this will take place out of view of the press. Unlike with many foreign dignitaries, Trump and Charles won’t be meeting on camera, for the reasons discussed below:
ShareAlleged press gala attacker stormed security checkpoint with long gun, acting attorney general says
Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, offered some details of how the attack on the White House correspondents’ dinner unfolded.
Cole Tomas Allen, the man accused in the attack, traveled from Los Angeles to Washington DC by train via Chicago, arriving 24 April, Blanche said. He had a reservation at the gala’s venue, the Washington Hilton, from that day through the 26th.
Blanche outlined how the attack unfolded:
double quotation markApproximately at 8.40 on the night of 25 April, Allen approached the security checkpoint on the terrace level of the hotel, which is, again, a floor above where the dinner was taking place. He ran through the magnetometers holding a long gun. As he did so, US Secret Service personnel assigned to the checkpoint heard a loud gunshot.
One Secret Service officer was shot in the chest, but was wearing a ballistic test that worked. This heroic officer, who was hit, fired five times at Allen, who was not shot, but fell to the ground and was promptly arrested.
Updated at 15.37 EDT
Man who allegedly targeted Trump at press gala facing life in prison, acting attorney general says
The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, has just convened a press conference where he is outlining the charges against Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old who allegedly attacked the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday in an effort to kill Donald Trump.
“Today, the Department of Justice filed three federal charges in United States federal court against Cole Thomas Allen. The first count is attempted assassination of the president of the United States. This count is punishable by up to life in prison,” Blanche said.
The two other charges Allen faces are interstate transportation of a firearm, which is punishable by as many as 10 years in prison, and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, which is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a maximum of life in prison.
Updated at 16.45 EDT
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrive for state visit to US
King Charles and Queen Camilla have just stepped off the plane at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland as they begin a four-day state visit. Here’s footage from the scene:
King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive for state visit to the US – watch live
Here’s a rundown of what they are expected to do – and not do – during their trip:
Updated at 15.27 EDT
Sky News reports that Sean Curran, the director of the Secret Service, has just arrived at the White House.
His visit may be connected to the meeting with security leaders that the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, is convening today.
Trump appointed Curran as Secret Service director shortly after he began his second term. You probably have seen him before – he’s on the right in this photo:
Sean Curran, right, was the head of Donald Trump’s Secret Service protective detail when a gunman tried to kill him at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on 13 July 2024. Photograph: Evan Vucci/APShare
Updated at 16.44 EDT
Cole Tomas Allen has yet to respond to the charges against him, according to Reuters.
Inside the courtroom, prosecutor Jocelyn Ballantine briefly laid out the allegations against him, saying:
double quotation markHe attempted to assassinate the president of the United States, Donald J Trump.
Updated at 16.43 EDT
Suspect in correspondents’ dinner attack charged with attempting to assassinate Trump
Cole Tomas Allen, the 31-year-old arrested after allegedly attacking Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner, has been charged with trying to assassinate the president, and firearms offenses, Reuters reports.
A judge granted prosecutors’ request to temporarily keep Allen behind bars, with a hearing scheduled for Thursday on his continued detention.
Allen sat wearing a blue prison jumpsuit at a table where he was flanked by US Marshals during his appearance in a Washington DC federal courtroom, according to Reuters.
The Trump administration’s argument that the attack on the correspondent’s dinner illustrates the necessity of building a ballroom on the White House’s east wing is not exactly winning rave reviews from government watchdogs.
“Trump using this moment of chaos and panic at the White House Correspondents Dinner to push for support for his ballroom vanity project is a grossly cynical exploitation of a genuinely alarming incident for personal political gain,” said Lisa Gilbert, the co-president of Public Citizen, a progressive non-profit opposed to the ballroom.
“The White House correspondent’s dinner in particular is an event that would never, ever be appropriate to host at the White House. There is already too much chumminess between our political leaders in Washington and the press corps that is supposed to hold them to account – pitching the White House as a venue for the event is a colossal conflict of interest that would impede the core function of the free press in a democracy.”
Updated at 14.05 EDT
Trump says Jimmy Kimmel ‘should be immediately fired’ for joke told before press gala attack
Donald Trump just called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired for a joke made in a monologue prior to Saturday’s attack on the White House correspondent’s dinner, in which the comedian said first lady Melania Trump resembled an “expectant widow”.
Alleging that the gunman who tried to storm the gala with the White House press corps “was there for a very obvious and sinister reason”, the 79-year-old Trump wrote on Truth Social:
double quotation markI appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.
It’s not the first time the Trump administration has come after Kimmel for humor criticizing the Republican president. Here’s a look back at that September incident in which ABC took Kimmel off the air then reinstated him amid an outcry over his right to free speech: