Insecurity after a new close call threatens Trump

Fortunately, the attempt to inflict carnage at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday was averted. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a tutor and video game developer from California, was tackled trying to rush past a final security checkpoint to the glitzy event in the Washington Hilton.

After gunfire was heard, President Donald Trump was whisked away while security officers struggled to reach Cabinet members and other top officials in the crowded and chaotic room. Many of the more than 2,000 guests ducked under tables.

This kind of violence revives arguments about gun culture, extremism and mental illness. But Saturday's event, regardless of motive, pushes the immediate issue of guarding the president, candidates and top officials back to the fore.

As he sought a second term, Trump was almost killed when his ear was grazed by a bullet at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July 2024. Law enforcement coordination was found to be badly flawed. Thomas Crooks, 20, was able to reach a rooftop 400 feet from the rally stage, aiming and firing an AR-15 style weapon before authorities shot him dead. Two months later, Ryan Wesley Routh, a roofer and Russo Ukrainian war activist, was spotted waiting with a rifle in the shrubbery for Trump who was playing at his West Palm Beach golf course.

Now Trump is in charge of the Secret Service and his new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin must answer for Saturday's too-close encounter.

Allen checked into the Hilton Thursday, and on Saturday he descended 10 flights of stairs from his room, exited a stairwell unchallenged and charged forward. He was tackled by Secret Service personnel after brief gunfire.

In an email to family beforehand, he mocked what he described as lax precautions. "No damn security. Not in transport. Not in the hotel. Not in the event," wrote Cole, according to news accounts.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told it differently Monday. "The system worked," he insisted, saying the suspect breached the perimeter one floor above the dinner by a few feet. "We were safe. President Trump was safe. His Secret Service agents kept him safe. All of us were safe."

Concerned lawmakers aren't taking that on faith, and they shouldn't. They want congressional oversight. Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who was there, said "this nutjob could have walked into any of the other events before the dinner and caused mass casualties."

Two months ago Austin Tucker Martin, 21, of North Carolina, carrying a gas can and a shotgun, was killed after breaching the perimeter at Mar-a-Lago. Trump was away.

Now Trump is citing Saturday's incident to argue that his planned grand White House ballroom, stalled in litigation, would help keep the president safe. It's hard to see how that responds to this incident. There can't be only one secure place in Washington where the president and top officials can gather safely for a large social event.

Only real analysis by objective security professionals can meet the challenges of a volatile political climate. Luck isn't a reliable option.