Rep. Gimenez raises concerns over Secret Service failures at WHCA dinner
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SPECIAL: A GOP lawmaker said President Donald Trump was “one door away” from danger at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and demanded answers from the Secret Service about what he described as a major security breach.
Butler, Pa., where Trump was previously targeted. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), a member of the House Homeland Security Committee who is investigating security failures at the rally, said the latest incident raises similar concerns about gaps in Secret Service protection.
Gimenez, who reviewed the Butler site firsthand, told Fox News Digital that security at the Washington Hilton, where the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was held and where President Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, also showed troubling vulnerabilities.
Things have changed for the better since then, Gimenez said, because crowds don’t regularly get as close to a president as John Hinckley Jr. attempted to kill the president to impress Jodie Foster.
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Unlike the first attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump, Republicans are in no rush to hold public hearings and launch an investigation into the latest assassination attempt on Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner over the weekend. (REUTERS/Bo Erickson)
“Mr Brady was injured quite badly – but that was a long time ago and the events are somehow fading away from history and memory. So I’m not sure [of an apples-to-apples comparison]” he said, returning to examine the “glaring gaps” in the security posture at Trump’s event.
“If so, why and why weren’t they caught? So who is responsible for this? Does the Secret Service have the necessary training to be held accountable and investigate?” [adjustments]”
He questioned whether the Secret Service had the necessary training and pre-planning to prevent similar threats.
Gimenez rejected ideas that Hilton herself was responsible for the violations and said that when a president is threatened, the responsibility lies with him.
“It’s not the Hilton hotel’s job to protect the president, and so again, it’s all up to the Secret Service,” he said, noting that the rank-and-file officers were very brave and all did their job Saturday and quickly stopped the suspect, Cole Allen, without any injuries other than one agent who was hit in the vest.
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Armed Secret Service agents stand on stage during a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC on April 25, 2026. President Donald Trump and other government officials were evacuated after gunshots were reported. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“My question is, how did this so-called assassin get this far, when he was actually one door away from God knows what? These are questions that need answers.”
For events like the WHCA dinner, Gimenez said you have to explain the “what ifs”, noting that the USSS can experience “distress” for hours and days but must be ready for an immediate threat.
“That doesn’t mean you should consider every possibility, but you should consider most of them and make it very, very difficult for any assassin to get one door further than the president.”
“Those are the concerns I have right now, and those are the concerns I have with Butler.”
In both cases, he said, there are things that go right and wrong.
Efforts to stop Allen went right, Gimenez said, but allowing someone like him to walk unfettered into the subbasement ballroom went wrong.
When asked about the Butler ad hoc committee and whether a similar panel would now be formed, Gimenez said he had heard rumors about it and reiterated that members of his team had no problem getting into the various advance parties without going through magnetometers or additional security, indicating there is plenty to examine.
He said he expected any panel to request a classified briefing with USSS managers and provide “situational awareness” of the agency’s conduct that night.
“Frankly, it’s quite surprising that for the most powerful country in the world, there is no such facility at the White House for state dinners etc., isn’t it?”
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In this regard, Gimenez said Trump is “ahead of the game” in many areas and that his ballroom plans for the East Wing may have directly reduced the threats posed by using a public hotel with multiple entrances in the business district.
At the same time, he said, procedures should be examined to see if the USSS falls into the pattern of “what worked in the past is good enough for what works and what threats there are today.”
“We need to get to the bottom of this and see how the Secret Service is adapting to the new threat landscape that changes every day.”
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After former USSS Director Kimberly Cheatle left the agency in the wake of Butler’s failures, Gimenez said it would be important to look at the improvements (if any) the new leadership has made in the two years since and analyze its own values.
Regarding the ballroom discussion, Gimenez said that anyone who examines the plans seriously and apolitically will see that this is exactly the kind of solution needed for such threats.
“Putting on my doctor’s hat, I will say that the validity of these cases is based on Trump Imbalance Syndrome – So [critics] I need help, okay… The White House, which is the venue for many official events, especially state dinners where we bring together dignitaries and heads of state from around the world, needs a ballroom.”
He said the “temporary tent” set up in the garden was an embarrassment for a first world country. Fox News Digital has reached out to USSS for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.
