WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President was somberly contemplative and unusually conciliatory after confronting what he saw as a in less than two years. He suggested that his personal politics had made him a repeated target, but he also called for unity and bipartisan healing in an increasingly violent world.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always shocking when something like this happens. Happened to me, a little bit. And that never changes,” a subdued Trump told reporters in a hastily organized news conference at the White House late Saturday.
Only a short time before, a man with guns and knives tried to rush past the security perimeter inside the Washington hotel where the Republican president was about to address the .
Authorities are trying to determine what happened and why. A suspect was taken into custody and identified as , 31, of Torrance, California.
Trump said he himself was undoubtedly the target. The presidency is 鈥渁 dangerous profession,鈥� he said, noting that violence associated with politics had escalated in the U.S. and around the world. 鈥漀o country is immune.”
Trump suggested it was a sign of how successful his presidency has been.
鈥淚鈥檝e studied assassinations, and I must tell you the most impactful people 鈥� the people who do the most, take a look at Abraham Lincoln,鈥� Trump said. He added: 鈥淭he people that make the biggest impact, they鈥檙e the ones that they go after. They don鈥檛 go after the ones that don鈥檛 do much.鈥�
The president called for Americans to put aside their differences and unite 鈥� a break from his usual gleefully combative political tack.
鈥淲e have to, we have to resolve our differences,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淚 will say, you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals and progressives. Those words are interchangeable, perhaps, but maybe they鈥檙e not. But yet everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd, there was a record-setting group of people, and there was a tremendous amount of love and coming together. I watched, I watched, and I was very, very impressed by that.鈥�
Trump says he would have changed course and made 鈥榓 speech of love鈥�
The president kept up a similar tone during a Sunday interview with Fox 草莓传媒 Channel, calling the dinner 鈥渁n evening where a lot of people got together.鈥�
鈥淚 saw some Democrats, as we were leaving 鈥� and they were generally hostile 鈥� and last night they were waving to me. Politicians, congressmen, senators. They were waving and saying, 鈥楪reat going鈥� and 鈥楬ello,鈥欌�� Trump said. 鈥淭he place was just coming together. It was very nice to see.鈥�
He also said he had originally planned to give a speech blistering the media. “I was gonna really rip it last night,鈥� Trump said of his initial plan.
But immediately after the incident, when there was some thought that the event would carry on, Trump said he wanted to change course with remarks that were 鈥済onna be much different. It鈥檒l be a speech of love.”
鈥淏ut I didn鈥檛 get a chance to do that,鈥� Trump said. “Probably I was better off, if I didn鈥檛. I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
There was still some of his old edge, especially when he spoke about the suspect: 鈥淚 hated a guy like this 鈥� a sick, bad person 鈥� I hated somebody like that changing the course of our country.鈥�
Echoes of what Trump said after 2024 incidents
Trump has called for national unity before, only to quickly pivot.
He told Fox 草莓传媒 that what happened Saturday proved the necessity of the he’s building. Trump also wrote on social media that the attack 鈥渨ould never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!鈥� And he scoffed at a legal challenge against the construction that led to the demolition of the White House’s East Wing, calling it the 鈥渞idiculous ballroom lawsuit.鈥�
After the shooting in 2024 , when Trump was wounded in the ear and a supporter was killed, the president strode into the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee two days later. That same week, he gave a speech featured a , drawing directly from his brush with death.
鈥淭he discord and division in our society must be healed. We must heal it quickly,” Trump said then. 鈥淎s Americans, we are bound together by a single fate and a shared destiny. We rise together. Or we fall apart.鈥�
Such calls proved to be very short lived.
Trump later in that same speech veered back into his trademark combativeness. He repeated false claims about the 2020 election was stolen from him and assertions that Democratic President Joe Biden had done 鈥渦nthinkable鈥� damage to the nation.
The pattern played out anew in September 2024, when Secret Service agents who was armed with a rifle as Trump played golf at his resort club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Steve Witkoff, Trump鈥檚 golf partner when the second incident occurred, described Trump’s initial reaction as 鈥渃ourageous and stoic.鈥� It was not long before Trump was talking constantly about 鈥渞adical” Democrats and 鈥渓eft-wing lunatics.鈥� He branded Ryan Routh, the man for trying to kill him, a 鈥渟ick鈥� individual.
This time, the first lady was with Trump
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said increasingly polarizing rhetoric was partly to blame for so many violent incidents around Trump.
鈥淭here have been threats against leadership for a very long time. Years and years and years. That鈥檚 not new,鈥� Blanche said on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭his Week.鈥� 鈥淭here is something unique about the threats against President Trump and his Cabinet that is disgusting.鈥�
Unlike the first two incidents, however, the latest one occurred with first lady Melania Trump by his side. The president said on Sunday that his wife 鈥渨as doing great.鈥�
That followed the previous evening, when Trump described the first lady as being rattled but also 鈥渧ery cognizant, I think, of what happened.鈥�
鈥淚 think she knew immediately,” Trump said. 鈥淪he was saying 鈥業t鈥檚 a bad noise.鈥欌��
He added, 鈥淚t was a rather traumatic experience for her.”
No change to British monarch’s upcoming American trip
Buckingham Palace said Sunday that the will go ahead as planned despite the incident at the correspondents鈥� dinner.
The announcement came after discussions between American and British officials on questions of security. The trip, an intricately planned affair, is meant to showcase the strength of the trans-Atlantic 鈥渟pecial relationship.鈥欌��
鈥淔ollowing discussions on both sides of the Atlantic through the day, and acting on advice of government, we can confirm the state visit by their majesties will proceed as planned,鈥� Buckingham Palace said in a statement. 鈥淭he king and queen are most grateful to all those who have worked at pace to ensure this remains the case and are looking forward to the visit getting underway tomorrow.鈥欌��
Charles and Queen Camilla are scheduled to begin their four-day trip on Monday, when they will have tea with the president and first lady Melania Trump.
Trump told Fox 草莓传媒 Channel’s 鈥淭he Sunday Briefing鈥� that “we鈥檙e going to have a great time and he represents his nation like nobody else can do it.鈥欌��
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Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
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