Tipsheet

Fox News Reporter Gave His Insight on the Security at the WHCA Dinner. It's Not Good

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  April 27, 2026 6:55 AM

He dashed past those checkpoints: Cole Allen, 31, sprinted as if he were running the 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, nearly breaching the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. If he had gained access to the ballroom, he planned to kill Trump officials and the president himself—it was all in his manifesto. He also admitted his targets to the police. Cole was apprehended by police before he was able to enter the venue, which led to top government officials and President Trump being evacuated from the event. 

How did this happen? Another close call is nearly as bad as the assassination attempt itself, so what’s going on? First, Allen was already a hotel guest, traveling from Torrance, California, to D.C. by train. He checked in on Friday. Second, as Fox News’ Bill Melugin pointed out, the security wasn't as tight as one might expect, considering that key members of the presidential line of succession were in the room:

The first exterior security for me was on the street outside of the hotel. I flashed my ticket and was waved through in one second. My name was not checked against any list, I showed no ID, I was not patted down and did not go through a metal detector. I probably could have shown a ticket from a prior year or a fake one as they barely looked at it. (I don't know who that exterior security was, they were guys in suits).

From that point, I walked into the hotel with no further security check, and I walked down to the Fox pre-party where there were multiple ballrooms that were absolutely PACKED with attendees. Still did not go through any security at that point.

Hypothetically, If I had hidden an explosive in my shoe or my jacket, I would have had no problem getting into one of those ballrooms. 

Only once it was time to get into the main ballroom for the dinner did we pass through magnetometers, empty our pockets, and get a pat down. And even that checkpoint was just outside of the dinner room. 

Two things can be true at the same time.

Secret Service reacted quickly to an active armed threat and prevented that threat from getting into the ballroom. But the security leading up to that point, in my opinion, appeared to be lacking severely.

No doubt, things will be tighter when the dinner is rescheduled, as the president promised.