Conspiracy theories abound after White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting
\US President Donald Trump is no stranger to theories alleging that attempts on his life are false flag operations.
Leaders across Europe have condemned the shooting that took place at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on 25 April, which US President Donald Trump attended.
Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and Vice-President JD Vance were among those evacuated at the Washington Hilton hotel after gunshots were fired near the main security screening area for the annual event.
Suspect Cole Tomas Allen has since been charged with attempting to assassinate the president. He has not yet entered a plea, and the US Department of Justice says it has yet to establish a clear motive.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that she had spoken to and expressed solidarity with Trump following the attack, which has sparked plenty of speculation and numerous conspiracy theories.
In the aftermath of the incident, influencers and social media users flooded X, Bluesky and Instagram with allegations that the attack was staged, despite multiple journalists reporting first-hand on the incident.
Yet more accused the Trump administration of deliberately staging the shooting to stir up support for Trump's White House ballroom project, which has faced legal challenges.
Trump claimed in the shooting's aftermath that the planned $400 million (€342 million) ballroom within the White House itself is crucial for his safety, as it limits the need for him to host events outside and would contain an underground bunker.
But there is no evidence that the shooting was staged, despite this conspiracy theory taking hold of mainstream social media platforms with millions of views.
Some of these posts refer to an image that shows Trump's reaction after the shooting. Others suggest that Fox News abruptly cut off a reporter as she began to imply that it was a false flag after Nicholas Riccio, husband of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, told her to stay safe.
The Fox reporter who supposedly had her call cut, Aishah Hasnie, later posted on X that her call only dropped because there was little signal in the ballroom of the hotel, and that Riccio only told her to stay safe in general terms, not as a warning of the attack that was to come.
"He was telling me to be careful with my own safety because the world is crazy," Hasnie said. "Which is what my own father and other people have also said to me recently. He was expressing his concern for my safety."
"I was going to say — before I lost my signal — that it was unfortunate that only a short time later, this all happened," she added.
A similar claim suggesting that the attack had been staged pointed to an interview Leavitt gave to Fox News prior to the dinner, in which she said that "shots would be fired" in the room.
Some posts on X interpreted this remark as evidence that Leavitt had prior knowledge of the shooting.
However, the full interview makes it clear that Leavitt was teasing Trump's planned speech, after Fox News interviewer referenced the 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner, at which the then-President Barack Obama and comedian Seth Meyers famously made jokes about Trump.
"He is ready to rumble, I will tell you. This speech tonight will be classic Donald J Trump," Leavitt said. "It will be funny. It will be entertaining. There will be some shots fired tonight in the room. So everyone should tune in. It will be really great."
Was the shooter given a signal?
Several posts showed a clip of a man standing next to Trump briefly holding up a card. Seconds later, shots can be heard in the background.
Social media users claimed that the person holding up the card may have been giving a signal to someone else to begin the attack.
However, the cardholder was Oz Pearlman, a mentalist and performer. According to an interview he gave to CNN, he was performing at the moment this clip was taken.
"It was a pivotal moment in the trick where you're just about to do the reveal of like 'wow', and we hear commotion," Pearlman said, explaining that at first he thought there was a medical emergency in the room.
Despite a complete lack of evidence, these theories were amplified online, with some tying the motive of the shooter to Israeli causes.
Others were amplified by Russian state media, some of which have since taken down reports that suggested that the attack was staged.
It's not the first time social media users have speculated that shootings involving Trump are false flag operations, with a similar theory spreading after the attempt on his life during a rally in Pennsylvania in 2024, despite a lack of evidence.
‘Staged’: Conspiracy theories spread online after thwarted shooting at White House press gala
In the aftermath of a White House Correspondents’ Dinner that was cut short on Saturday when a gunman rushed past security, conspiracy theories spread online claiming the attempt was staged in response to US President Donald Trump’s plummeting poll numbers.
Issued on: 28/04/2026 -
By: FRANCE 24
Video by: Guillaume MERCIER
19:06
After a brief exchange of gunfire, a suspect was detained at US journalism’s most celebrated annual event on Saturday. Investigators said 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen planned to assassinate the US president and other administration officials.
Trump was rushed out of the event by Secret Service agents and later posted surveillance footage of the gunman sprinting past a security checkpoint. A security guard, who was lightly wounded when a bullet struck his bulletproof vest, was the only casualty.
It was the first time President Trump – who has a famously combative relationship with the media – had agreed to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is known for its roasts of attendees and other public figures.
In the aftermath, conspiracy theories quickly took root online.
By midday on Sunday, the term “staged” appeared in more than 300,000 posts on X, the New York Times reported, citing information from social media analytics firm TweetBinder.
Trump is among only a handful of US presidents who have been targeted by multiple high-profile assassination attempts during their time in office. And this latest attempt comes amid plummeting approval numbers: four new polls this month put the president’s approval ratings at record or near-record lows as voters sour on his hardline anti-immigration tactics, rising inflation and the war in Iran.
“His approval ratings are so bad that he staged another assassination attempt to get out of the White House correspondents’ dinner,” wrote one X user in a post that had 42,000 likes at press time.
Even members of the former MAGA faithful have been expressing frustration with the president, with some also increasingly vocal about suspicions that a July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, was staged. Speculation has long raged that Trump was never actually wounded during the attempt, given that his ear remained intact despite supposedly having been shot by a rifle. The FBI has confirmed that Trump’s ear was struck by “a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces” in Butler.
Influential podcaster Joe Rogan and former FOX TV personality Tucker Carlson – once among Trump’s most ardent defenders – have both recently speculated that the Butler incident was a hoax meant to boost Trump ahead of the 2024 election. Former MAGA supporter and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene also weighed in last week, saying in a post on X that the administration’s strange behavior following Butler amounted to a “cover up” [sic].
‘Shots fired tonight’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt helped fuel speculation about this latest attempt with some unfortunate comments to Fox News on the red carpet before the gala got under way. Asked about Trump’s anticipated speech, Leavitt said the president was “ready to rumble” with the press and that the speech was going to be “classic Donald J. Trump”.
“There will be some shots fired tonight in the room, so everyone should tune in – it’s going to be really great.”
Multiple social media users reposted her comments, remarking that her choice of words was “one hell of a coincidence”.
Others quickly pointed out that “shots fired” could easily refer to the verbal barbs Trump was planning to lobby at the press during the annual gala.
Ballroom pivot
A chorus of reactions on the political right led some to speculate that the incident was an elaborate hoax to drum up support for Trump’s controversial ballroom, which has limited public support. Shortly after the thwarted attack, Trump promoted his White House ballroom as a superior venue for future gatherings.
"This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding: “It cannot be built fast enough!"
Some later pointed out that multiple MAGA accounts echoed this exact sentiment with remarkably similar posts, not expressing shock or concern for those affected but emphasizing that Saturday's events underscored the need for a White House ballroom.
GOP Congressman Randy Fine of Florida was unequivocal, writing: “We’d better never again hear a peep from anyone complaining about a White House ballroom.”
“I don’t want to hear one more [expletive] criticism of Trump’s new ballroom at the White House,” TV personality Meghan McCain wrote on X.
“THIS IS WHY WE NEED TRUMP’S BALLROOM” wrote Libs of TikTok, an influential far-right social media account.
The 'incompetence is insane'
Other conspiracies centered on the security failures that allowed a man armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives to get anywhere close to the event, especially considering the history of assassination attempts against Trump.
“Shots fired, the Secret Service rushes in, and they let Trump continue to sit there?” asked one X user incredulously.
Another pointed out that Vice President JD Vance was rushed from the room before Trump, in violation of Secret Service protocol.
Even the suspected gunman was reportedly shocked by the ease with which he was able to gain access to the event.
In the manifesto Allen sent to family members shortly before the start of the gala, he described the lack of security measures at the Washington Hilton where the dinner was being held by saying, "this level of incompetence is insane".
Ironically, this is the same hotel where an assassination attempt against former president Ronald Reagan occurred in 1981.
According to the manifesto, printed by the New York Post, Allen referred to himself as the "Friendly Federal Assassin" and said he was targeting Trump administration officials with the exception of FBI Director Kash Patel.
He went on to outline his motivations.
"On 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," he wrote.
Allen cited Christian principles in saying he was trying to protect those being harmed by the administration.
"Turning the other cheek when *someone else* is oppressed is not Christian behavior; it is complicity in the oppressor's crimes," the manifesto read.
Trump has requested that the dinner be rescheduled within 30 days. President Weijia Jiang of the White House Correspondents' Association, which hosts the annual gala, said its board will be meeting to decide on whether and when to reschedule.
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