The White House plans a deep review of security protocols after the shooting Saturday night near the annual correspondents’ dinner in which President Donald Trump was participating for the first time. The state visit that the kings of England, Charles and Camilla, to the United States begin this Monday will represent the first test for Donald Trump’s—and the visiting international authorities’—after the event, apparently the third attempt to end the president’s life in less than two years.
The president of the United States and the first lady, Melania Trump, received the kings of England this Monday afternoon (Washington time, six more in mainland Spain), and had tea with them. Afterwards, Trump guided them on a tour to personally show them the renovations carried out in recent months in the White House and its gardens.
The visit occurs with the still fresh scare of last Saturday’s attack. The device deployed around the ballroom of the Hilton hotel in Washington and the nearly 2,500 guests at that dinner, which included most of the members of the Government and numerous legislators, ultimately worked. The incident ended with no fatalities or injuries other than an agent whose bulletproof vest stopped a projectile that hit him.
As many members of the Republican Administration as possible were intercepted in time and at sufficient distance. But the mere fact that the suspect was able to jump, almost literally, the checkpoint has forced a rethink of presidential security arrangements. The all-powerful White House Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, has called a meeting this week to discuss them.
Key representatives from the main security agencies will be present at that meeting, to closely review the security protocols at events attended by the president. They will participate, as confirmed by White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, “senior leadership of the Department of Homeland Security, the Secret Service and our own operations (at the presidential headquarters), to guarantee the security of the president, given the numerous events on the upcoming calendar.”
The calendar, indeed, is full of events in the coming months, both outdoors and indoors. Trump Must, of which the United States is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada. He will also preside over commemorations for the 250th anniversary of American independence. And before the midterm elections next November, in which control of the Senate and the House of Representatives will be at stake – and, with it, the ability to block or not the initiatives of the US Government, or to open impeachment trials against members of the Administration –, he will participate in a whole series of rallies in support of candidates from his Republican Party.
“If adjustments have to be made to protect the president, they will be made,” the spokesperson promised in her press conference this Monday, the last before starting maternity leave. But he also warned that the president does not plan to cut his agenda. “He doesn’t want these crazed lunatics and these serious acts of political violence to change our American way of life. It would be very easy for him to remain barricaded in the White House, where he knows he is safe. But he wants to move around the country, meet with Americans. He wants to celebrate our country’s 250th anniversary, have a wrestling match on the grounds of the residence. There are many events he wants to participate in. He is not willing to give that up.”
Both Trump himself and the White House have assured that they maintain complete confidence in the director of the Secret Service, Sean Curran. The American president praised the role of the agency and the Washington Police in protecting him and the rest of the guests in . Leavitt reiterated this Monday, in a press conference at the presidential residence, the Administration’s support for the good work of the person responsible for the head of state’s security.
But the correspondents’ dinner, despite having Trump present; Vice President JD Vance; from the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio; House Speaker Mike Johnson and numerous other leaders, was not included in the list of top security priority events. The guests staying at the hotel, despite the proximity of so many leaders, did not have to go through any special controls to access the facilities, when to attend any type of rally or other event in which Trump participates it is necessary to comply with a series of strict measures, which even limit the entry of objects such as umbrellas.
Even before that meeting, those responsible for security at the highest American level have been forced to review their measures for the coming days. The state visit of the kings of England begins this Monday, which includes activities outside and inside the White House until its conclusion on Thursday.
Although London insists that there have been no alterations to the program after Saturday’s shooting, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace has acknowledged that “as expected, our teams and those of our American colleagues have debated throughout the day (this Sunday) to what extent what happened that night may impact the operational plan of the visit.”
The sovereigns’ agenda began with a courtesy visit to the White House after landing in Washington, in which the American leader and his wife, Melania Trump, shared tea with their guests before leading them on a visit to the new hive installed in the gardens of the presidential residence. The kings planned to end their day by attending a party in their honor at the British embassy, before the formal events of the visit begin on Tuesday.
That day will begin with a formal welcome ceremony on the grounds of the White House, and an official meeting between Trump and Charles of England in the Oval Office to try to normalize bilateral relations that have suffered severe blows as a result of the war in Iran and the refusal of the United Kingdom to be part of a coalition that would force the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, vital for the global flow of oil, after Tehran blocked it. That day, Charles of England will also become the first British king to address both houses of Congress at the US Capitol since his mother, Elizabeth II, did so in 1991.
