Federal law enforcement officials are evaluating how to proceed with some high-profile public events featuring President Donald Trump after the attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The third violent assault in the vicinity of Trump in less than two years is renewing the central tension confronting the Republican president’s defenders: how to accommodate the public-facing demands of the presidency while minimizing the risk of an attack. Plus, a look at Vivek Ramaswamy's Ohio gubernatorial campaign, Virginia redistricting heads to the state Supreme Court and what it was like to be inside the media dinner ballroom on Saturday. |
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Secret service agents respond during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner) |
Trump's many upcoming large, public events may present fresh security challenges after latest attack — By Will Weissert
Saturday’s episode, in which a man armed with guns and knives tried to storm the Washington hotel ballroom where the president was set to address the White House Correspondents’ Association, comes ahead of Trump’s expected participation in a stretch of large, high-profile events indoors and outdoors in the months ahead. Among them, he’s set to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary, oversee the U.S. co-hosting the World Cup and lead rallies meant to galvanize support for Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles will hold a meeting this week with officials from the White House operations team, the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security to discuss security protocol at events with the president, according to a senior White House official. The meeting will examine security steps that were successful on Saturday while “exploring additional options” for future events, said the official, who insisted on anonymity to confirm private discussions.
Separately, a person familiar with the matter said the U.S. Secret Service was already reevaluating its security footing for the upcoming events. The agency’s posture was already elevated due the extraordinary number of threats facing Trump — including two back-to-back assassination attempts in 2024 — and the realities of recent events such as the U.S.-Iran war.
Lawmakers, event attendees and some allies of the president saw fault in the correspondents’ dinner security planning, questioning why someone like the shooter could reserve a room at the hotel to sneak in weapons around the outermost layer of security. Read more of Weissert's reporting on Trump's security challenges. |
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AP Elections Spotlight: Ohio governor's race |
Republican Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during the Warren County Republicans Lincoln Day Dinner at the Great Wolf Lodge in Mason, Ohio, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) |
Ohio primary for governor shows potential headwinds for Ramaswamy — By Julie Carr Smyth
The big picture: There are few signs that the top candidate in Ohio's GOP gubernatorial primary sees it as a competitive race. Parlaying his national name recognition, tech industry connections and alliance with Trump into a record fundraising haul that he's tapping for advertising spots aimed at the November election, Vivek Ramaswamy is criticizing his would-be general election opponent and all but ignoring his Republican foe so far. He's been running what looks like a general election campaign, drawing impressive crowds during visits to each of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Ramaswamy's potential vulnerabilities: Facing growing headwinds within a GOP base disgruntled over the rising cost of living, the disjointed release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, the burgeoning demands of data centers and the war with Iran, Ramaswamy is also under criticism for proposals including consolidating the state's university system and raising the voting age to 25. Critics say those ideas suggest the Ivy League-educated biotech billionaire is out of touch with average Ohioans.
Who is Ramaswamy's GOP primary opponent? An engineer and vehicle designer who calls himself “The Car Guy,” Casey Putsch has attracted fans with provocative YouTube videos that troll Ramaswamy and criticize national Republicans over their handling of the Epstein files, positions on energy-guzzling data centers and support for Israel. His events are sparsely attended and his campaign has raised only $123,000, but Putsch has won over some conservative voters.
Read more on Smyth's reporting on the Ohio governor's race. |
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AP is there: Virginia Supreme Court hearing on redistricting case |
Signs are seen outside Fairfax Government Center during the Virginia redistricting referendum, Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Fairfax, Va. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) |
Virginia Supreme Court weighs whether to block new US House districts — By Gary D. Robertson
Our Gary D. Robertson is Richmond, Virginia, as attorneys defending that state's new Democratic-drawn congressional districts — which could help Democrats win as many as four additional U.S. House seats — are facing skeptical questions from state Supreme Court judges considering whether to overturn the redistricting plan approved by voters last week. A Republican challenge to the maps contends that the Democratic-led General Assembly violated procedural requirements by placing the constitutional amendment before voters to authorize mid-decade redistricting. If the court agrees that lawmakers broke the rules, it could invalidate the amendment and render last week's statewide vote meaningless. On Monday, proponents of the Virginia map were questioned first by Supreme Court judges. At issue was whether the new districts should be invalidated because of the process used by lawmakers. Virginia currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans who were elected from districts imposed by a court after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census. The new districts, which narrowly won voter approval last Tuesday, could give Democrats an improved chance to win 10 districts. Read Robertson's full reporting on the Virginia redistricting case. |
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U.S. Secret Service agents surround President Donald Trump before he was taken from the stage after a shooting incident outside the ballroom during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) |
Here's how Washington-based photo journalist Alex Brandon captured this photo at Saturday night's White House Correspondents' Association dinner:
"At the WHCA dinner, I was seated at a table at the back of the room. When I heard the gunshots, I stood up with my phone in my hand. As some attendees dove under the tables, I and other photographers did what we always do: took pictures with what we had, our phones. My job is to cover the president. I tried to keep taking pictures of him as long as I could see him, as U.S. Secret Service rushed in to move him to safety.." Explore more of Brandon's work covering the White House. |
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