‘I’m neither a rapist nor pedophile’: Trump rejects ‘radicalised’ shooter’s allegations, slams media in explosive interview | Watch

In a take a seat-down with CBS’s 60 Minutes following a security breach at the White Home Correspondents’ Dinner, President Donald Trump addressed the allegations contained in a manifesto written by the suspect, Cole Tomas Allen, flatly denying claims of sexual violence and misconduct.

The incident, which noticed Secret Provider brokers flee the President from the ballroom as shots rang out, has been linked to a suspect who reportedly penned a
“radicalised” manifesto. All the scheme via the interview, host Norah O’Donnell read an excerpt from the doc, by which the suspect wrote:

“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”

Trump’s reaction to this used to be quick and visceral.

“Effectively, I was looking at for you to read that because I knew you would,” Trump told O’Donnell, calling the press “spoiled of us” for highlighting the attacker’s rhetoric. “Yeah, he did write that. I’m now now not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”

The gunman who attempted to storm the White Home Correspondents’ Dinner wrote a letter explaining his actions and accusing “Administration officials” broadly of more than a few serious crimes. When Norah O’Donnell read this checklist of crimes to President Trump, he used to be offended.

“I read… pic.twitter.com/H0NKCc2oUK

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) April 26, 2026

When O’Donnell adopted up by asking if he believed the shooter used to be referring specifically to him, Trump mentioned: “I’m now now not a pedophile. Excuse me. Excuse me. I’m now now not a pedophile. You read that crap from some unwell individual? I bought connected to all stuff that has nothing to stay with me. I was entirely exonerated.”

🚨 WOW! President Trump staunch REAMED a CBS reporter for studying off the WHCA Dinner’s manifesto, referring to admin officers as “pedophiIes”

“I am NOT a pedophile. You read that crap from some SICK person.”

“Your chums on the different facet of the plate are these who derive been… pic.twitter.com/r9PENJNlno

— Slit Sortor (@nicksortor) April 26, 2026

Earlier within the interview, President Trump described the chaos of the shooting, asserting he at the muse resisted the Secret Provider’s attempts to evacuate him because he “wished to stare what used to be going on.”

“I wasn’t making it that straightforward for them,” Trump mentioned of the brokers who surrounded him. “I wished to stare what used to be occurring… I requested them to back a minute.”

The President praised the professionalism of regulations enforcement, describing the suspect, who reportedly ran forty five yards earlier than being intercepted, as titillating esteem a “blur.” Trump called the attacker a “quite unwell man” who had transitioned from a Christian believer to an “anti-Christian” extremist.

Moreover read |
Magnetometers, Secret Provider and extra: The safety measures that White Home dinner shooter bypassed

Why is the interview critical?

The interview comes at a time of sizable tension between the White Home and CBS. The network honest now now not too prolonged within the past settled a $20 billion lawsuit filed by Trump over the editing of a 2024 interview with worn Vice President Kamala Harris.

Old-fashioned journalists esteem Scott Pelley derive publicly slammed the settlement as a “crumbling” below political power.

What we know referring to the shooter

Cole Tomas Allen, a 31-year-susceptible man from Torrance, California, used to be arrested at the scene at the Washington Hilton on April 25 after trying to breach the ballroom where President Trump used to be attending the White Home Correspondents’ Dinner.

Allen’s academic and professional background at the muse mirrored that of a excessive-attaining particular individual. He graduated from the California Institute of Abilities (Caltech) with a Bachelor’s stage in Mechanical Engineering in 2017 and later done a Master’s stage in Computer Science from California Divulge College, Dominguez Hills in 2025.

Professionally, he labored as a allotment-time tutor at C2 Training in Torrance, where he used to be recognised as “Teacher of the Month” in December 2024. He also described himself as an novice on-line sport developer and mechanical engineer.

Nonetheless, investigators suppose his trajectory took a darker flip within the interval main as a lot as the attack. In accordance to regulations enforcement and a manifesto he despatched to family members shortly earlier than the incident, Allen had change into extra and extra radicalised.

While federal records present he made a puny political donation in 2024, his household told authorities that his views grew extra outrageous over time, including rhetoric described as “anti-Christian” and discussions about fixing perceived complications on this planet. In his writings, he referred to himself as the “Pleasant Federal Assassin” and outlined a “precedence checklist” of targets, inserting individuals of the Trump administration at the stop. Officers, including the FBI and President Donald Trump, derive called him a “lone wolf” who acted independently with out a wider conspiracy.

Particulars of the attack indicate how Allen used to be ready to compose entry to the venue. He had checked in as a guest at the Washington Hilton, which allowed him to circumvent initial layers of security. At the time of the shooting, he used to be armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, a .38-caliber handgun, and extra than one knives.

He now faces federal bills, including assault on a federal officer and discharging a firearm for the interval of a violent crime. Even supposing he used to be now now not shot for the interval of the arrest, he used to be treated for a knee spoil sustained whereas being restrained.