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Morning Wire

Attack On Trump: Suspect Manifesto & Media Spin | 4.27.26

27 Apr 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What happened during the assassination attempt on President Trump?

7.726 - 12.07 John Bickley

Washington reels after yet another assassination attempt targeting President Trump.

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12.531 - 18.256 Unknown

I wasn't worried. I understand life. We live in a crazy world.

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18.957 - 37.075 John Bickley

I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, April 27th. This is Morning Wire. We learn more about the suspect, his planned attack, and how it was thwarted.

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37.139 - 45.674 Brent Schur

The way he got around not having a ticket was he was just a guest at the hotel, which seems like a major, major security issue.

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46.295 - 56.953 John Bickley

And as conspiracy theories about the incident spread, the battle over the narrative ratchets up online and in D.C. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

59.65 - 94.72 Georgia Howe

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94.7 - 113.855 Georgia Howe

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114.115 - 118.463 Georgia Howe

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120.991 - 144.133 John Bickley

36 hours after the White House Correspondents' dinner shooting, new details are shedding light on the motives of the would-be killer. Cabot Phillips, host of Wired and Live, joins us now with the latest, eh, Cabot? So a really scary sequence of events on Saturday night that you were covering for us as it was happening live. Luckily, no one severely injured, at least. We do have a suspect now.

Chapter 2: Who is the suspect and what was his plan?

164.673 - 182.665 Cabot Phillips

Now, from what we know, he fired at least one shot, striking a Secret Service officer in their bulletproof vest. Thankfully, that officer was released from the hospital Sunday morning. And after a brief exchange of gunfire, he was then tackled by a number of other agents. Police say that Allen had earlier in the week booked a room in the Hilton Hotel. That's where the event was taking place.

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182.865 - 194.765 Cabot Phillips

And ironically, the same hotel where President Reagan was shot back in 1981. Allen was taken to a local hospital after the shooting with minor injuries before being transferred to a D.C. detention facility on Sunday.

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194.785 - 213.25 Cabot Phillips

He'll have his first court appearance later today, where he will be charged with at least two counts, including use of a firearm during a violent crime and assault on federal officers. However, according to DOJ officials, he is likely to face more serious charges as the investigation proceeds. There could be something related to terrorism or hate crime charges as well.

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213.23 - 221.399 John Bickley

Right, a lot of this does hinge on the motivations for this attack, and we have learned more there with this manifesto. What do we know now?

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221.759 - 241.982 Cabot Phillips

Well, according to authorities, the California native had a deep hatred of President Trump and really his entire administration. Just before opening fire, Cole reportedly sent his family a manifesto referring to himself as the, quote, friendly federal assassin. At least some members of his immediate family were concerned and contacted law enforcement. but by then it was too late.

242.222 - 260.04 Cabot Phillips

The New York Post has since obtained that manifesto and as expected, it is full of anti-Trump rhetoric. He starts by apologizing to his family before making clear that he had compiled a specific list with rankings of White House officials that he planned to kill while saying, quote, I experienced rage thinking about everything this administration has done.

260.701 - 276.198 Cabot Phillips

And to that point, Cole includes a number of references to Trump era policies and actions, including ICE detention facilities, civilian casualties of war in Iran, And even drug smugglers who had been killed, he refers to them as fishermen, by the Navy off the coast of South America.

276.538 - 295.265 Cabot Phillips

Later on, Cole says that he did not plan to explicitly target those in attendance, that includes our Daily Wire team, but would still shoot them because they, quote, chose to attend a speech by a pedophile, rapist, and traitor, and are thus complicit. So, by all accounts, this does appear to be yet another example of of anti-Trump political terrorism.

295.686 - 303.924 John Bickley

Right, all signs do seem to be pointing in that direction. Now, a lot has been made of the security situation at this event. What is the latest on that front?

Chapter 3: What details have emerged about the suspect's manifesto?

604.394 - 607.281 John Bickley

What did you see in terms of security on the ground?

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607.531 - 630.481 Brent Schur

Yeah, it's really interesting. The closest you could get to the hotel, it's the Washington Hilton, is about three blocks away, and there was a security perimeter set up. To get through that perimeter, you needed to show them a ticket. But just show them a ticket. You didn't need to find your name on a list or anything like that. Just show them a ticket, and you're allowed into the hotel lobby.

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630.762 - 644.257 Brent Schur

What we're finding out with the shooter seems like a major, major security issue. that anybody staying at this massive Hilton could just take an elevator straight down to the red carpet and this whole area.

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644.417 - 660.133 Brent Schur

But again, inside that room, that was Secret Service-protected, metal detectors, checks on purses, and nothing reached that room except the panic from what happened outside of that secure perimeter.

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660.316 - 674.747 John Bickley

Right, officials are saying, look, our perimeter worked exactly how it was supposed to, and it did, in fact, stop the threat. Final question, as Trump announced, there should be another White House Correspondents' Dinner pretty soon. What is the latest on that front? Do we have any dates?

674.879 - 693.006 Brent Schur

There has been no formal date announced. I think it's definitely true that there should be another event, and I think everybody in that room agrees. This kind of felt like the first truly bipartisan excitement for a White House correspondence dinner in a long time. I mean...

692.986 - 708.48 Brent Schur

Conservative media, with Donald Trump going for the first time as president, was in that room, and liberal media and legacy media was in there too. I think there definitely will be another White House Correspondents' Dinner in the next month or so.

708.841 - 736.036 Brent Schur

The question to me is whether it will be at the Washington Hilton, because there are some clear limitations to what's possible from a security perimeter, and what worked in the in a different world. And it just, it feels like we're in an elevated society when it comes to political violence. And I think they're going to need to figure out a way to ensure that this event can be safe.

736.656 - 743.547 John Bickley

It's unfortunate, but it's just true. This is the reality of the situation. Brent, thank you so much for coming on. Of course, John.

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